Maxwell School News and Commentary

"It may be the Democrats have yet to find the balance they need between the left wing of their party and the rest of it," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. "Biden struggled to balance these two camps. Republicans beat expectations, and with a more ‘presidential’ candidate at the top of the ticket, they could be well positioned in 2024."

"On a scale of one to 10, I’d say my worry is about a nine," says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs. "There are several plausible scenarios that could cause this election to go off the rails."

"As disturbing as these allegations against Vice President Biden are, similar allegations have been made against President Trump... I think [voting for Biden is] a legitimate choice to make that does not negate the possibility that Tara Reade is telling the truth," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science.

"'The Dow's off 1,000 points, oh my goodness, that's horrible.' But the Dow's [near] 30,000 points, so that's a 3% drop," says Donald Dutkowsky, professor emeritus of economics, adding that a 3% drop is not good, but not awful. "I would advise investors to take a deep breath. If you're in it for the long-term for like your pension, take a deep breath and stay the course."

"This is bigger than a partisan fight," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. "This is really about the nature of what is the presidency and what can it be used for."

"One of the things we know about negative ads is they have more policy information than positive ads which tend to be more about the candidate's background," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science.

"Clearly this is an expression of partisanship gone awry," says Corri Zoli, research assistant professor of political science, about recent suspicious packages sent to media and liberal leaders.