Politics & Power

Have you noticed that former President Donald Trump is, how should we put this, ramping up the rhetoric and increasing his assault on the integrity of U.S. elections? Makes you wonder why. The race to the White House is in the final stretch. And no one can argue that the contest between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is close. Could he be laying the groundwork just in case he loses? Just a...

Tension in the Middle East rises with each passing hour awaiting Israel’s promised reprisal against Iran for the Oct. 1 missile attack. Washington is attempting to temper that reaction. The goals are simple: to avoid a broader regional war in the Middle East and to avoid drawing the U.S. into the conflict at all costs. On Path to the Polls this week, I’ll talk with Nancy Soderberg, a former UN Amb...

If I say Chevron, what comes to mind? It’s probably the name of a gas station where you pull in and fill your tank. But the recent overturning of the “Chevron decision” by the U.S. Supreme Court should have as much relevance for Americans as the gasoline moniker. Why? Here’s the bottom line: The court struck down a tool for governing. Overturning the “Chevron decision” essentially gives federal ag...

Schools have become a political battleground. There are pushes to ban books and efforts to shape the lessons our children are taught. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has played a big role in local school board races backing Republican candidates. He continues to trumpet efforts to ban what he calls “woke” ideas in classrooms. Now, after more than 20 years, there is a push to place party labels on school...

With the tickets set, both Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz and former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance have major challenges to confront. For Harris, it is realizing honeymoons don’t last. For Trump, it’s time for a campaign reboot. And most analysts will tell you — along with many within his own campaign — they don’t know how to get there.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shot into the spotlight after coining the label “weird” for former President Donald Trump and his vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance. Now Walz is on Vice President Kamala Harris' ticket as her running mate. The question is: Is Walz the ticket the Democrats need to win the White House? Can he deliver the swing vote Harris needs?

Was the move to manipulate President Joe Biden’s unprecedented departure from the presidential race an “attempted intra-party coup”? In the words of syndicated columnist Rich Lowry, that’s a “pejorative, but accurate description of the campaign to get Biden to quit the race.” How’s that for getting your attention for this week’s “Path to the Polls”? Lowry wrote: “For donors, pundits and elected De...

Was the move to manipulate President Joe Biden’s unprecedented departure from the presidential race an “attempted intra-party coup”? In the words of syndicated columnist Rich Lowry, that’s a “pejorative, but accurate description of the campaign to get Biden to quit the race.” How’s that for getting your attention for this week’s “Path to the Polls”? Lowry wrote: “For donors, pundits and elected De...

This is an election year permeated by an increasing number of threats and violence. And this weekend’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump may only serve to intensify the situation. It is the first assassination attempt in the United States against a current or former president in 43 years. The reaction from leaders in both political parties, initially, was consistent. Preside...

The Supreme Court’s immunity decision may have surprising consequences and reverberate to things other than the powers of the presidency -- like former President Donald Trump’s criminal cases. The court ruled presidents are immune from prosecution for their official acts. It has already prompted the postponement of sentencing for his business fraud case in New York. That was supposed to happen thi...

It is perhaps the blockbuster case of the latest U.S. Supreme Court term. The immunity case for former President Donald Trump that Justice Neil Gorsuch predicted would be “a decision for the ages.” The question for the justices was under what circumstances — if any — a former president has immunity from criminal prosecution. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices said that former presidents are shielded fr...

The race to determine who will be Donald Trump’s running mate is heating up as the former president says he has “sort of a pretty good idea” who he’ll pick. While the actual choice remains a mystery, some insiders say a Rust Belt Republican is the best choice. They believe Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance may be the one to flip votes away from President Joe Biden in key battleground states, including the Rust...

News4JAX political analyst Rick Mullaney, head of the Jacksonville University Public Policy Institute, joins Bruce Hamilton for a potpourri of topics from Hunter Biden's case to President Joe Biden's immigration moves to former President Donald Trump's response to his guilty verdict.

Young people today are clearly concerned about the nation’s direction. If you listen to the voices of 18- to 29-year-olds echoing across the country, they worry about the economy, foreign policy, immigration and climate change. And they appear motivated to facilitate change and ready to have their voices heard. A national poll released by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School indicat...

Twelve jurors are on deck and former President Donald Trump’s first criminal trial is racing toward its climax. The trial is inextricably intertwined with the nation’s future and the former president’s bid to reclaim the White House. The panel of jurors has to decide if the prosecution missed anything in the case and if the defense was effective in poking holes in testimony from the star witness M...

The presidential election is still six months away, and you have to take any polling with a grain of salt. That said, polls give us an idea of what the electorate is thinking. The latest poll from the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida provides some interesting insight into the psyche of voters into questions such as: Would a criminal conviction against Donald Trump cha...

Six swing states could swing the pendulum in the presidential election. Right now Florida isn’t among them, but with the abortion issue looming on the Sunshine State’s ballot in November, voters’ opinions might be swayed. Polls show President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump running close in Florida, which might play a more crucial role than many think in the outcome of the 2024 preside...

The presidential election is still six months away, and you have to take any polling with a grain of salt. That said, polls give us an idea of what the electorate is thinking. The latest poll from the Public Opinion Research Lab at the University of North Florida provides some interesting insight into the psyche of voters into questions such as: Would a criminal conviction against Donald Trump cha...

The Supreme Court is deciding once and for all whether former presidents can be prosecuted for official acts while in the White House. The justices in the nation’s highest court heard oral arguments over whether former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. It is history in the making. Betwee...

House Speaker Mike Johnson deftly maneuvered a long-stalled and sprawling foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel through the House, dodging stiff resistance from many conservative Republicans. The big question now is will it prove to be his undoing because there’s the threat of a coup or will the Democrats come to his rescue? There is no telling where this real-life soap opera is going to end....

 It’s not in a “galaxy far far away.” It’s a galaxy of legal woes rapidly closing in on former President Donald Trump. You almost need a tracker to keep up to date on the tangled web of cases playing out or getting ready to play out in courtrooms across the U.S. You have the “hush money” case in New York that started with jury selection Monday, the New York civil fraud case, federal and Georgia el...

Have you noticed a lot of diversity efforts within U.S. companies are losing steam? Maybe you were wondering why. What changed? Well, it may have a lot to do with the Supreme Court striking down affirmative action when it comes to college admissions. The High Court ruled colleges can’t explicitly consider race in the college admissions process. I have to be pretty clear here. The Supreme Court rul...

Former President Donald Trump is up in the polls. If the election were held today it looks like he’s in the driver’s seat and has the edge against an unpopular incumbent. But his problems — many of his own making — are mounting. The news cycles are negative. Even some within his own ranks admit that the most likely person to defeat Trump, at this point, is Trump.

Constitutional law expert Rod Sullivan joins Bruce Hamilton to discuss the Supreme Court's wrestling match with policymakers over social media.

The way President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are going at it you’d think it was November already. No, it’s eight months away, but the battle royale is intensifying and both are coming out swinging at each other. We’re also getting a good idea of how their financial plans differ. And Biden is lambasting Trump for saying he’d cut Social Security. Trump’s reported lavish praise for d...