Brownstein, a 2-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, senior CNN political analyst & author of NYT best-seller Rock Me on the Water

Los Angeles, CA
Joined August 2012
#RockMeOnTheWater: how @JacksonBrowne, Linda Ronstadt, the Eagles; Beatty, Nicholson, @Janefonda, Spielberg, Altman; @TheNormanLear Carroll O'Connor, James L. Brooks, Mary Tyler Moore, Jerry Brown & more transformed music, movies, TV & politics in 1974 LA harpercollins.com/products/r…
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Ronald Brownstein retweeted
Moreno's also campaigning w his state's candidate for governor, who doesn't believe Jesus came here for our salvation (he's Hindu).
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Ronald Brownstein retweeted
Brent is right. In our polling basically NO Democrats are defecting to the GOP this cycle. It's quite astonishing actually, but true at the same time. #2026Election
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More @brentbuc : "Age is a big divide inside the GOP with younger Republicans wanting less Trump influence after a loss. Of Republicans under 45, 41% want him to keep heavy influence, compared to 54% of those 45-to-64 and 64% of those 65+."
New @brentbuc poll offers some empirical insight on this: "On where the party should go once Trump leaves office, [Rep] voters divide into three ~ equal camps: 32% want to keep Trump’s policies...31% want a traditional conserv direction, 29% want the party to move to the center."
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New @brentbuc poll offers some empirical insight on this: "On where the party should go once Trump leaves office, [Rep] voters divide into three ~ equal camps: 32% want to keep Trump’s policies...31% want a traditional conserv direction, 29% want the party to move to the center."
Really frames the question well: if the election goes badly for Republicans, in the aftermath will there be any reckoning about whether Trump has placed the party on a sustainable path? Or will the survivors be concentrated in such safe red territory that they don’t dare?
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Ronald Brownstein retweeted
Read my colleague @reilly_cait’s dispatch from Nebraska and give her a follow!
NEW: Economic rage is putting Nebraska's Senate race in play for independent Dan Osborn. But he faces an uphill fight as GOP voters are reluctant to break with the party even amid growing anger. “Everything’s going up but the wages,” said Craig Ely, who still plans to vote GOP.
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Really frames the question well: if the election goes badly for Republicans, in the aftermath will there be any reckoning about whether Trump has placed the party on a sustainable path? Or will the survivors be concentrated in such safe red territory that they don’t dare?
MIKE JOHNSON: There's no drag at all RAJU: No drag!?!? JOHNSON: No, no drag at all. The president is doing events and having huge turnout. It's just like 2024. I'm telling you, the polls are wrong. RAJU: Then why are you in these deep red districts?
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Ronald Brownstein retweeted
I can confidently say that the 2026 election will be the most diverse midterm electorate in U.S. history. I provide here evidence in voter registration and early voting data michaelmcdonald.substack.com…
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Ronald Brownstein retweeted
I’ve covered dozens if not hundreds of Trump rallies and I can’t recall him ever holding one in a room as small as this arena in Chillicothe, Ohio. It’ll be packed and loud- but maybe 1000 people will fit.
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Ronald Brownstein retweeted
I've been describing it as, from the Dem perspective, something new (Delaware), something old (Mahoning), and something borrowed (Wood)
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Gravity
Approval of President Trump’s job performance declined to 38% in September, and disapproval rose to 60%. In both first and second terms, Trump’s previous lowest approval was 40%. Approval has steadily declined through the second term. #mulawpoll
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Kind of striking from the man who bent the knee to a man (Trump) who publicly mocked his wife as unattractive, which is not the kind of thing that would generally be called “manly” behavior in your typical Texas bar- or country club for that matter.
Sen. @tedcruz (R-TX) on U.S. Sen. candidate James Talarico (D-TX): "If you were to sit down and make a list of the top 1,000 adjectives to describe James Talarico, masculine would not be one of them."
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Suffolk didn’t ask job approval but it captures a complete OH inversion: 56% of voters there now view Trump unfavorably after he won ~ that much in 24. 57% of college+ say they want their vote to force a change in Trump’s direction. That’s college voters in OH, not CO, CA or NY
Suffolk poll | 10/21-10/26 LV Ohio Governor 2026 🟦Amy Acton 48% 🟥Vivek Ramaswamy 44% Link to poll: newarkadvocate.com/story/new…
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Appropriately enough for super heroes in the political world, that almost looks like an @thealexrossart Justice League or Avengers painting.
"That buzz is a reflection of Cook’s unusual role in the political mediasphere: The report is one of the last bastions of nonpartisan election wonkery that nearly everybody in Washington trusts." New profile from the @washingtonpost: washingtonpost.com/politics/…
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In 24, Trump seemed to provide the GOP an escape from the squeeze of the continued decline of their core groups, non-col, evangelical & rural Whites. But his answer-more support w/working class non-whites-is crumbling. He's @ 9% approval w/non col non-whites in SC, 18% MN, 29% FL
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And, as I explained in @CNN Sunday, every data source agrees that college educated voters comprise 4-5 points more of the national electorate in each mid-term than in the preceding presidential. More here: cnn.com/2026/10/25/politics/…
Even in SC, Trump's approval among college+ Whites is way underwater (42-57). Andrews is winning 47% of those college Whites, far more than Dems usually get in SC. Combined w/overwhelming rejection of Graham (and Trump) among col & non-col minorities alike, that puts her in range
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Even in SC, Trump's approval among college+ Whites is way underwater (42-57). Andrews is winning 47% of those college Whites, far more than Dems usually get in SC. Combined w/overwhelming rejection of Graham (and Trump) among col & non-col minorities alike, that puts her in range
In the @nytimes @SienaResearch SC Senate poll, far more voters who didn't vote in 24 remain undecided than Harris or Trump voters. Among the non-24 voters who have already decided, Dem Annie Andrews is +23. The share of non-whites who are undecided is also twice the % of Whites.
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In the @nytimes @SienaResearch SC Senate poll, far more voters who didn't vote in 24 remain undecided than Harris or Trump voters. Among the non-24 voters who have already decided, Dem Annie Andrews is +23. The share of non-whites who are undecided is also twice the % of Whites.
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Under Trump, Rs have retreated in well-educated districts. Dems now lead Rs 54-37 in House seats where the share of White residents & the share of those residents w/at least a BA both exceed the ntl average. But as many as 1/3 of those remaining Rs face serious threats in Nov
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Like Collins & other swing district Rs, Lawler argues the district is better off w/him working w/Trump than fighting him. But conversations with residents made clear many want a representative who confronts Trump instead of haggling with him
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"You can say whatever you want about how independent you are, but we know how you voted,” one man told me. A women said that Lawler & other Rs who present themselves as independent “can’t or won’t” stand up to Trump when it matters most. “There needs to be a check," said a 3rd
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