After the 2020 Election, Polling Is Dead
Whatever the final outcome of the election, we know one thing for sure: the pollsters screwed up royally. And the heyday of celebrity pollsters seems to be coming to an end.
19675 Articles by: Jonathan Sas
Jonathan Sas has worked in senior policy and political roles in government, think tanks, and the labor movement. He is an honorary witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. His writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, National Post, the Tyee, and Maisonneuve.
In Anthony Banua-Simon’s Cane Fire, Hawaiians Are No Longer the Extras
For Golden Age Hollywood, Kaua’i became synonymous with paradise. But Anthony Banua-Simon’s new documentary Cane Fire traces the reality of life on the island, from domination by sugar companies to its transformation into a low-wage service economy.
Overcrowded Refugee Camps Are Designed to Tell Us That Non-Europeans’ Lives Count for Less
The fire at Greece’s notorious Moria refugee camp left over 12,000 people without shelter, but the new camp built to replace it holds only 3,000. The deliberate overcrowding flies in the face of anti-COVID measures, but it also has a clear political message: asylum seekers’ lives are more dispensable than European citizens’.
Robert Fisk Was a Reporter Who Brought the Wars Home and Shaped the Thinking of a Generation
British journalist Robert Fisk, who died last week, produced decades of outstanding work, from Ireland to the Middle East. His greatest impact on public opinion came after 9/11, when he mounted a brave challenge to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Whoever Wins, This Election Is Not the End of Trumpism
Joe Biden and the Democrats have steadfastly refused to articulate a compelling alternative political vision to Donald Trump’s reactionary right-wing politics. Trump looks likely to have lost, but without creating an alternative to defeat it, Trumpism could return with a vengeance four years from now.
With Prop 22’s Passage in California, Tech Companies Are Just Writing Their Own Laws Now
After a $200 million propaganda blitz, California voters passed the Uber- and Lyft-backed Proposition 22 on Tuesday, permanently excluding online “platform” workers from labor protections. Unsurprisingly, the companies are now talking about extending such legislation nationally.
A Lot Went Wrong for Democrats on Election Night
There’s still much we don’t know, but we can take some key lessons from the elections last night: Democrats’ weak economic message helped Trump, the Lincoln Project embarrassed itself, a ton of grassroots money was set on fire, Americans don’t love Obamacare, and the Democratic courts’ strategy failed.
A Biden Win and a GOP Senate Spells Stalemate — or Worse
Nothing is certain yet, but we may be gearing up for what amounts to a Biden-McConnell coalition government. The Left will be up against a split government composed of two parties bent on pushing austerity and war.
The Killing of Orlando Gutiérrez Shows the Violent Threat to Bolivian Democracy
Victory for socialist candidate Luis Arce in last month’s Bolivian election seemed to turn the page on the overthrow of Evo Morales last fall. But the murder of miners’ leader Orlando Gutiérrez just after the election shows that the coup plotters are still a violent threat — and will do all they can to silence working-class Bolivians.
Donald Trump’s Class War Against the Poor Helped Destroy the YMCA
There’s something deeply ironic about Donald Trump’s bizarre, pre-election “YMCA” video: You can no longer stay at the Village People’s YMCA in Manhattan, because the gentrification carried out by real estate barons like Trump drove out housing for poor people.
Once More, With Feeling: America Must Abolish the Electoral College
Whatever the final outcome of the vote, there has rarely been a more vital moment to champion democracy and majority rule. That means abolishing the Electoral College.
Brazilian Organized Crime Has a Close Friend in Jair Bolsonaro
Brazil is governed by a president with well-documented links to Rio’s mafias. In order to understand Jair Bolsonaro’s rise, it is key to understand the link between his brutal law-and-order politics and the increasing stranglehold of organized crime over Rio.
Poland’s Historic Fight for Abortion Rights
Last week, Poland banned abortion after its government stacked the courts with right-wing ideologues. But they didn’t count on women fighting back — and now they face a historic wave of protest.
Donald Trump and the GOP Are Trying to Steal the Election
Donald Trump and the Republican Party are trying to stop ballots from being counted by flooding the courts with lawsuits and sowing doubts about mail-in ballots. We can’t let them steal this election.
Count the Damn Votes
Tonight’s election returns might seem dispiriting, but that’s exactly what the Right wants — for us to preemptively concede. Our demand should be simple: just count the damn votes.
Long Voting Lines Are a Poll Tax
For weeks, voters have been forced to wait in interminable lines just to cast their ballot. That’s an indictment of American democracy — and it points to deeper flaws in a political system that represents the oligarchic minority over the working-class majority.
We’re Just at the Beginning of a Long Struggle for Justice
Whatever happens in the election, the Left will be either blamed or shamed. Don’t be surprised — be ready for the fight of our lives.
On Election Day, Follow the Money for Both Parties
In an oligarchic system, there are few better predictors of how a president will govern than where they got their money. Here’s who’s funded both the Biden and Trump campaigns.
The Right-Wing Violence Trump Has Encouraged Has Deep Roots in American History
The far-right violence that Donald Trump has stoked has deep roots in US history. Kicking him from office won’t change that — but it would deal a blow to right-wing vigilantism.
New York’s Elected Socialists Are Building a Movement
In New York this campaign season, something extraordinary happened: a dedicated effort by AOC and the state’s newly elected DSA-aligned socialist legislators to transform their campaigns into non-electoral socialist organizing vehicles within their districts.