FRANK LUNTZ

Democrats running for office this year in Republican-leaning areas or swing states are grappling with how much they should talk about the Jan. 6 insurrection, if at all.

At former President Donald Trump’s rally in Texas over the weekend, there were signs of change.

Republicans are blasting President Joe Biden, threatening lawsuits and going as far as to call for civil disobedience to block his new vaccination mandates.

Republicans are blasting President Joe Biden, threatening lawsuits and going as far as to call for civil disobedience to block his new vaccination mandates.

Republican lawmakers are under increasing pressure to persuade vaccine skeptics to roll up their sleeves and take the shots as a new, more contagious COVID-19 variant sends caseloads soaring.

Republican lawmakers are under increasing pressure to persuade vaccine skeptics to roll up their sleeves and take the shots as a new, more contagious COVID-19 variant sends caseloads soaring.

Seven weeks ago, President Joe Biden laid out a lofty goal to vaccinate 70% of all American adults by July Fourth.

Donald Trump and his supporters are intensifying efforts to shame members of the party who are seen as disloyal to the former president and his false claims that last year’s election was stolen.

Donald Trump and his supporters are intensifying efforts to shame members of the party who are seen as disloyal to the former president and his false claims that last year’s election was stolen.

With vaccination rates lagging in red states, Republican leaders have begun stepping up efforts to persuade their supporters to get the shot, at times combating misinformation spread by some of their own.

Laura Biggs, a 56-year-old who has already recovered from the virus, is wary of taking the vaccine. “The way I feel about it is: I don’t need the vaccine at this point," she said. She said partisan differences were obvious among her friends and family in all aspects of the pandemic, including vaccine acceptance. I don’t think it is the way God intended for us to be,” said Holloway. “The people who voted for Trump and don’t want to take the vaccine are committed in their opposition.

Laura Biggs, a 56-year-old who has already recovered from the virus, is wary of taking the vaccine. “The way I feel about it is: I don’t need the vaccine at this point," she said. She said partisan differences were obvious among her friends and family in all aspects of the pandemic, including vaccine acceptance. I don’t think it is the way God intended for us to be,” said Holloway. “The people who voted for Trump and don’t want to take the vaccine are committed in their opposition.

And for beleaguered Republicans coming off a disastrous election, it was their first step back to political power. Senate Republicans are expected to oppose a similar measure in the coming weeks, arguing that the bill is not focused enough on the pandemic. Polling suggests that an overwhelming majority of voters — including a significant number of Republicans — supports the Democrats' pandemic relief plan. AdWhether the minimum wage provision is included or not, Senate Republicans are expected to oppose the final package. 3 House Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., walks with fellow House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, following a meeting called by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – House Republicans decided Wednesday to stand by two GOP lawmakers who have polarized the party, voting to retain Rep. Liz Cheney as their No. In a 145-61 secret-ballot vote, House Republicans overwhelmingly rebuffed a rebellion by hard-right conservatives to toss Cheney, R-Wyo., from leadership after she voted last month to impeach then-President Donald Trump. Hours earlier, after Democrats slated a House vote for Thursday that would remove Greene from her committees, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy ridiculed them for it. The decisions over Greene and Cheney have subjected the GOP to a politically agonizing test of its direction as it moves beyond the Trump presidency.

The unbreakable wall of Republican support that encouraged and enabled Donald Trump's norm-shattering presidency cracked on Wednesday. But even some of those who opposed impeachment condemned Trump's behavior and blamed him for sparking the insurrection. “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday's attack on Congress by mob rioters,” said House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., while warning that a second Trump impeachment would further divide America. A more consequential vote awaits later this month in the Senate, where Trump's party is hardly rallying to his side. But the House impeachment showed how challenging the coming months will be for the GOP.

Trump still has supporters, especially among the many rank-and-file Republican voters and conservative activists beyond Washington. That makes Trump the first outgoing president since Andrew Johnson 152 years ago to skip the swearing-in of his successor. Meanwhile, there is no clear path for the Republican Party without Trump. “We need a Republican Party,” Biden said, noting that he spoke with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, a leading Trump critic. Doug Deason, a Texas-based donor who served on the Trump campaign's finance committee, said this week's events have done nothing to shake his confidence in the Republican president.

Trump still has supporters, especially among the many rank-and-file Republican voters and conservative activists beyond Washington. That makes Trump the first outgoing president since Andrew Johnson 152 years ago to skip the swearing-in of his successor. Meanwhile, there is no clear path for the Republican Party without Trump. “We need a Republican Party,” Biden said, noting that he spoke with Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, a leading Trump critic. Doug Deason, a Texas-based donor who served on the Trump campaign's finance committee, said this week's events have done nothing to shake his confidence in the Republican president.

The lifelong Republican from suburban Cleveland supports President Donald Trump's policies and fears her business could be gutted if Democrat Joe Biden is elected. It's a “moral dilemma," Jaronowski said as she paced her home one recent evening after pouring a glass of sauvignon blanc. Jaronowski is part of a small but potentially significant group of voters who say they remain truly undecided less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 election. Some voted for third-party candidates in 2016 because they were so repelled by their choices — Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton — and may do so again. Having so few undecided voters to move “is problematic if your candidate is not leading,” said Becca Siegel, the campaign’s chief analytics officer.

FILE - In this Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, file photo President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to the White House in Washington as he returns from Minnesota. The Republican president has trailed Democratic challenger Joe Biden in polls for most of the year. Trumps approval ratings barely budge, consistently ranking him as among the weakest first-term presidents in living history. And for five consecutive months, no more than roughly 3 in 10 voters have believed the nation is moving in the right direction. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The Republican president has trailed Democratic challenger Joe Biden in polls for most of the year. One month before Election Day and with ballots already being cast in some states, there are few parallels in American history to such a stunning collision of crises in the late stage of a campaign. The Republican president has trailed Democratic challenger Joe Biden in polls for most of the year. “You have an American president threatening political instability ... and at the same time making wild accusations and spreading conspiracy theories about the legitimacy of an American election,” Schmidt said. Amid legal and health concerns, it's difficult for pollsters and campaigns to predict how many voters will ultimately cast ballots.

Several polls ahead of the 2016 presidential election suggested Trump supporters were at least somewhat more likely to say Supreme Court nominations mattered to them. But more recent polling shows the gap between Trump and Biden voters has narrowed – or even reversed. And an August CNN poll found 47% of Biden supporters, but just 32% of Trump supporters, labeled nominations as “extremely” important to them. But with a Supreme Court vacancy, he again is swallowing hard to support Biden in November. But many Trump supporters backed the president’s push to fill the seat now, hypocrisy be damned.

Trump campaign officials believe they missed that opportunity in trying to wrest Midwest states from the Democrats in 2016. Trump said hed get tough on China, one of Biden campaign ads says. The Biden campaign says Trump has weakened relations with allies and pulled the U.S. out of international organizations, giving China more room to exert its own influence. Biden campaign officials say that if Biden is elected, he will restore relationships with U.S. allies and rally the international community to form a united front against China. That first phase is smaller than the comprehensive deal Trump had hoped for and leaves many of the thorniest issues between the two countries for future talks.

Key Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are rejecting liberal calls to defund the police as President Donald Trump and his allies point to the movement as a dangerous example of Democratic overreach. Other opponents of the movement include Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., a former presidential candidate and one of two black Democratic senators, and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Municipal officials in Minneapolis have endorsed the defund the police language backed by some civil rights activists and a handful of progressive House Democrats. Protesters over the weekend also painted DEFUND THE POLICE in large yellow letters on a street close to the White House. Some Democrats described it as bad politics, even if most Democrats shared the desire to overhaul policing.