I've always judged myself, to a great extent, on my ability to make others happy. It seems sensible, and I haven't gotten many complaints about it over the years from my family, friends, or colleagues. Part of this stems from my upbringing, and it helps meet a standard requirement for...

I'm surprised people haven't mentioned gas prices in all these posts. It's clear that American voters are best mobilized by pocketbook issues, and there's a reason why Senate Democrats held a press conference this week by a Capitol Hill gas station. Of course, I was pleased to see my colleague...

This last set of comments helps explain why the Democratic Party is having such a tough time coming up with a unified platform for the fall elections. Some seem to think the way to win is by tacking to the center, others believe the party should shift to the left,...

There's clearly a lot of anger out there, and skepticism about whether people's votes actually count. I happen to be a big believer in voting, which is a trait I got from my grandmother. While she just died at 100 a month ago she didn't miss a single change to...

In response to the reader who asked whether we've gotten to the point of where people are going to address what's happening in our political system, I think we'll get our answer this fall. Either we'll witness a real voter rebellion, in which case lawmakers will have to respond, or...

Rep. Mike Ferguson's (R-N.J.) district is exactly the kind of problem I write about in my book. He, along with Democrat Rush Holt, was in a swing district before the most recent round of redistricting. Then the two parties teamed up to protect all of their incumbents in 2002, even...

One reader raised an interesting question: why voters tend to worry more about long-term issues, such as climate change, as opposed to their elected representatives. I think about this issue a lot, since I cover the environment, and Americans talk to me all the time about global warming yet there's...

There are a lot of good comments here, so I'm just going to respond to a few of them right now. I didn't miss California's redistricting reform initiative (or Ohio's, for that matter) I wrote about them in my book and in the Post's Outlook section in November. Both...

Hey there, this week I'll be writing about my new book, "Fight Club Politics: How Partisanship is Poisoning the House of Representatives." In some ways I face a daunting task: I'm trying to get Americans to care about redistricting, a wonky topic that's not about to make it onto the...