Quick Pops

Democrats decide not to debate dull

The sixth Democratic primary debate seemed striking for its lack of artifice and frequent evidence of intelligent life on stage.

By John F. Harris

2020 democratic debates

‘Biden has never won a debate. And it has worked.’

What changed in the sixth Democratic debate? According to our experts, Klobuchar turned in another standout performance, Buttigieg bested Warren on wine caves, and Biden finished where he started—on top.

By POLITICO Magazine

Biden, center, flanked by Warren and Sanders, during the December Democratic debate hosted by POLITICO and PBS NewsHour.

Buttigieg absorbs a pummeling, and there's more where that came from

The mayor has been discovered. Can he withstand the scrutiny?

By Ryan Lizza

Klobuchar busts out

The Minnesota senator has gotten better in each of the debates, and Thursday's was her best yet.

By Elena Schneider and David Siders

Klobuchar strikes Buttigieg in fight for the center

By Scott Bland, Jenny Ament and Annie Rees

DNC raises thresholds again for January debate

By Zach Montellaro and Steven Shepard

Yang: Democrats have to 'stop being obsessed' with impeachment

By Eleanor Mueller

The moment the Warren-Buttigieg slugfest went national

By Elena Schneider and Eli Okun

POLITICO NEWSLETTERS

POLITICO Playbook

Visit Magazine

Joe Biden at the sixth Democratic Debate

The Friday Cover

A Night at the Circus

Behind the scenes at the spiciest debate of the year.

By M. Scott Mahaskey

2020

Inside the Secret List of Demands Warren Gave Hillary

The Massachusetts senator pressured Clinton to stock her administration with officials very different than Obama’s team.

By Alex Thompson

OPINION

I Like Cenk Uygur, but Bernie Was Right to Retract His Endorsement

Electing the former misogynist to Congress would be good for progressives, but endorsing him was bad strategy.

By Vanessa A. Bee

Altitude | A new column on politics

Impeachment and the Crack Up of the Conservative Mind

The Trump years have knocked conservatives off a high horse they'd been riding since the Reagan era.

By John F. Harris

2020

Why Biden’s Retro Inner Circle Is Succeeding So Far

In 2019, there’s a tiny group of Democrats who believe the party hasn’t lurched leftward. Oh, and their boss happens to be winning the primary.

By Ryan Lizza

President Donald Trump laughs as he addresses a campaign rally Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Minneapolis.

OPINION | Fourth Estate

Impeachment Is a Christmas Gift for Trump

The president can now stop worrying about whether he’s on the naughty list and start making the case for his re-election.

By Jack Shafer

Illustration of Buttigieg surrounded by leaders he met at Harvard

2020

How Harvard Made Pete Buttigieg the Moderate That Progressives Love to Hate

A bitter presidential election, a terrorist attack, two wars and four years in Cambridge forged the centrist message propelling Buttigieg’s rise.

By Michael Kruse

History Dept.

What Democrats Can Learn From the Forgotten Impeachment of James Buchanan

The process doesn’t have to take down a president to do damage to his party.

By Joshua Zeitz

OPINION

The Victim President

Once it would have been considered whiny and weak, but Trump has, through his personal alchemy, made victimhood into a kind of political strength

By Rich Lowry

Shadowy characters creeping through a digital wall

feature

DHS Was Finally Getting Serious About Cybersecurity. Then Came Trump.

Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen came in with the potential to be the most effective cyber leader in agency history—only to be sideswiped by the president’s fixation on the Mexican border.

By Breanne Deppisch

Chinese and U.S. flags are displayed on Constitution Avenue in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011, ahead of the arrival of China's President Hu Jintao for a state visit hosted by President Barack Obama.

Wealth Of Nations

Look Out: Some Chinese Thinkers Are Girding for a “Financial War”

Behind the good feelings about trade, there are signs China is making plans for a much more hostile future with the U.S.

By Julian Gewirtz

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the second Hanukkah reception of the evening, in the East Room of the White House on December 11, 2019 in Washington, DC.

OPINION | Fourth Estate

Trump Fatigue? Spare Me

Yep, he’s exhausting. And the nation’s pundits owe us more than a plea for sympathy.

By Jack Shafer

2020 TRACKERS & FORECASTS

Where the candidates stand on more than 50 issues

The most comprehensive guide anywhere to the issues shaping the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Who wins 2020?

We analyzed the electoral map and every House, Senate and gubernatorial seat to determine who we think will win the 2020 elections.

CARTOON CAROUSEL

The nation's cartoonists on the week in politics

By POLITICO Staff

IMPEACHMENT

McConnell and Schumer fail to strike impeachment trial deal

The Senate majority leader earlier ripped into Nancy Pelosi for threatening to delay Trump's impeachment trial.

By Burgess Everett

White House braces for Mulvaney’s post-impeachment exit

By Nancy Cook

Pelosi downplays threat to withhold impeachment articles from Senate

By Heather Caygle and Sarah Ferris

Trump impeached in historic rebuke

By Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desiderio

A man dressed as Santa Claus joins protesters supporting the impeachment of U.S. President Donald Trump

Pelosi's power move, impeachment Santa and other scenes from a historic day

By Heather Caygle, Melanie Zanona and Sarah Ferris

Trump disparages ‘depraved’ Democrats for impeaching him

Trump gets vindictive at rally after House slaps him with impeachment

By Gabby Orr and Matthew Choi

Senate Republicans pray Trump won't tweet during trial

By Marianne LeVine and Burgess Everett

ELECTIONS

Wine caves, health care clashes and age attacks: Biggest debate moments

The Democratic candidates used the smaller debate stage to try to draw blood from their rivals.

By Marc Caputo and Nolan D. McCaskill

Impeachment war shifts to House election battlefield

All but two Democrats who represent districts Trump carried in 2016 voted to impeach him.

By Ally Mutnick and Sarah Ferris

Biden to release names of his bundlers

By Natasha Korecki

Andrew Yang shows his range to the camera for POLITICO after the Democratic Debate.

Andrew Yang just wants some respect

By Eugene Daniels

POLICY

'They’ve been blindsided’: Silicon Valley wakes up to Sacramento

California caught the world by surprise last year when it passed the nation’s strongest data privacy law.

By Katy Murphy

Court voids Obamacare mandate — but not the whole law

By Paul Demko

Cannabis, corruption and cryptocurrency: All the weird stuff in the budget deal

By POLITICO Staff

Ways and Means sends North American trade deal to the House floor

By Sabrina Rodriguez

Chao’s team helped McConnell’s state win its largest DOT grant

By Tucker Doherty and Tanya Snyder

LEGAL

FEC probes spending patterns on Kasich 2016 presidential campaign

The FEC is asking former campaign staffers for information on trips they took on behalf of John Kasich.

By Daniel Lippman

Appeals court wants answers on impact of impeachment

By Josh Gerstein

Rick Gates gets 45 days of weekend jail, 3 years of probation

By Darren Samuelsohn and Josh Gerstein

Here are the people saving Trump from getting kicked out of office

By Nancy Cook

Judge demands answers from FBI on faulty surveillance applications

By Josh Gerstein

TRUMP'S WHITE HOUSE

Impeachment day for Trump: A bruised ego, a Twitter eruption and a winding rally

At the White House, Trump aides sought to portray the day as a relatively normal one for a president who has faced years of intense political threats.

By Nancy Cook, Burgess Everett and Gabby Orr