Perry Bacon Jr., FiveThirtyEight

Perry Bacon Jr.

FiveThirtyEight

Washington, DC, United States

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Recent:
  • Unknown
Past:
  • FiveThirtyEight
  • 89.3 WFPL News
  • NBC News

Past articles by Perry:

Politics Podcast: Why Democrats Got Shut Out Of A Special Election In Texas

Two Republicans, Susan Wright and Jake Ellzey, were the top vote-getters in Saturday’s jungle primary in Texas’s 6th Congressional District. They will compete i… → Read More

American Politics Now Has Two Big Racial Divides

There’s been a recent flurry of studies and analyses that take a deeper look at the results of the 2020 election. These examinations don’t contradict our early … → Read More

What Biden’s Big Speech Can — And Can’t — Accomplish

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses what we’ve learned from President Biden’s first 100 days in office and his first address to a joint session of Congress. → Read More

Nonreligious Americans Are A Growing Political Force

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, Galen Druke and Perry Bacon Jr. speak with political scientist and pastor Ryan Burge about Americans’ declining religious affiliation and how that trend is shaping our society and politics. → Read More

Politics Podcast: Americans Are Losing Their Religion. That’s Changing Politics.

In 2020, the number of Americans who belong to a church, mosque or synagogue became a minority for the first time since tracking began, according to a recent Ga… → Read More

Why House Democrats Probably Won’t Pass Their Reparations Bill

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight politics podcast, the crew talks about the politics of reparations for slavery after a Democratic proposal in the House advanced out of committee for the first time since it was first introduced in Congress in 1989. They also discuss the appeal of celebrity candidates and what it tells us about our politics. → Read More

Politics Podcast: Celebrity Candidates Are Here To Stay

The idea of the celebrity politician isn’t going away just because former President Trump is out of office. Caitlyn Jenner says she’s in the process of deciding… → Read More

Five Questions The Political Media Is Wrestling With In Covering America’s ‘Uncivil War’

The political media has long been both powerful and controversial — no surprise, as it essentially plays the role of referee in American politics. But how the … → Read More

It’s Not Just Young White Liberals Who Are Leaving Religion

Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup. Poll(s) of the Week Only 47 percent of American adults said they were members of a church, mosque or synago… → Read More

Why The Republican Party Isn’t Rebranding After 2020

Typically, after losing a presidential election, a political party will undertake an intense intra-party debate over why it didn’t win and how the party needs t… → Read More

The Longer Democrats Debate Their Infrastructure Plan, The Less Popular It Could Become

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses the potential sticking points of the Biden administration’s infrastructure plan and debates whether to consider it a bipartisan initiative, given that many Republican voters support it but Republican lawmakers do not. The team also looks at how the Republican Party has reacted after its recent electoral losses. → Read More

Why Joe Manchin Is So Willing And Able To Block His Party’s Goals

Senate Democrats need all 50 members of their caucus to band together to pass bills that don’t have any GOP support. So, in theory at least, any senator could c… → Read More

Why Georgia’s New Voting Law Is Such A Big Deal

From November 2020 to January 2021, the story of the state of Georgia was pro-Democratic: Democratic candidates for president and the U.S. Senate all won. But m… → Read More

Why Democrats In Congress Need Biden’s Approval Rating To Stay In The Mid-50s

A majority of Americans, about 55 percent, approve of President Biden’s job performance so far, whereas about 39 percent disapprove. Those are pretty good numbe… → Read More

Why Republicans Are Happy To Stoke Culture Wars

In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, Galen Druke speaks with senior writer Perry Bacon Jr. about his recent reporting on the ideas that have gained currency on the left — and how the right has responded to them. → Read More

Why Attacking ‘Cancel Culture’ And ‘Woke’ People Is Becoming The GOP’s New Political Strategy

This is the second in a two-part series on the ideas related to race, status and equality influencing the current political divides in America, you can find par… → Read More

The Ideas That Are Reshaping The Democratic Party And America

Many Americans probably don’t know exactly what terms such as anti-racism, “cancel culture,” “racial equity,” “white privilege” and “systemic racism” mean. And … → Read More

Five Things The COVID-19 Bill Revealed About How Washington Will Work In The Biden Era

President Biden will soon sign into law a $1.9 trillion bill intended to boost the economy and help the U.S. deal with the effects of the novel coronavirus pand… → Read More

Why Republicans Don’t Fear An Electoral Backlash For Opposing Really Popular Parts Of Biden’s Agenda

Republicans in the U.S. House last week unanimously opposed President Biden’s economic stimulus bill, even though polls show that the legislation is popular wit… → Read More

CPAC And The Broader Republican Party Agree: It’s Trump’s Party For Now.

In this episode of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew looks to the past weekend’s Conservative Political Action Conference for indications of where … → Read More