In the News: Grant Reeher

“He is deeply dug in on this,” said Grant Reeher, professor of political science, about President Trump's immigration policy. “There are things that candidates and office-holders are particularly known for and they stake their identities on. He is clearly one of them, on this issue.”

Grant Reeher discusses the state politics behind abortion access in the TIme article, "Trump Keeps Talking About Second-Trimester Abortions. Here's What He Gets Wrong." As efforts heat up to ban abortion on a national level, blue states are looking to strengthen their abortion laws, while red states are attemtping to dismantle them. Reeher says these restrive efforts are meant "to be tested in courts."

"The longer the Democrats stay on this [Julian Assange's extradition], the more it’s helping the president [Donald Trump]," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

On presidential candidate John Delaney's suggestion that if elected, he would debate Congress four times a year, Professor Grant Reeher opines: "I can see that this is an effort to change the political culture by requiring direct engagement, but the participants have to agree to take the exercise at face value, in front of TV cameras, and the political disincentives against doing that right now are strong."

“The UPA program in Washington is a great two-way learning experience,” said Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. “I easily learn as much from the participants as they glean from me.”

 "When you put out things that people can get behind, you also put out things that people can criticize," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, about Senator Warren's campaign strategy to release detailed policy positions early on in the primary cycle.

"It’s a discussion between some of the Democrats who may have a better sense of strategic thinking about the election and the ones who think there are good reasons to be going forward with impeachment, [for whom] it’s the principle of the thing," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

"There still isn’t clarity on what is the best way for the Democratic Party to position itself to face Republicans generally and Donald Trump specifically," says Professor of Political Science Grant Reeher, adding that there are good arguments to be made on both sides. "I still don’t think it’s clear. And Bloomberg himself is unclear."

"If there are going to be deals between the House of Representatives and the president, one of the main places will be in the budget, so the appropriations committee will have a big role," says Professor of Political Science Grant Reeher.

Democratic lawmakers, Professor of Political Science Grant Reeher says, "have already made pledges to constituents about what their agenda will be. Now it’s real. I think the governor is going to be put in the position of applying the brakes on some of these things." 

"If there was a year in which I'd be suspicious of polling numbers, this would be it,” Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells CNY Central. "The reason is that the models of likely voters have to come from somewhere, and usually they use previous midterms. 2018 is nothing like 2014." 

"Is it [President Obama's memo] going to help a lot? I don’t think so, given the country is so polarized," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. "But it could help get people who would vote Democratic anyway to actually turn up."

"The general impulse seems to favor the conservative/republican mood... But the Democrats have recruited many women who are competing for competitive seats...and the confirmation of Kavanaugh could help the Democratic candidates in places that count," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

"The emotions surrounding this have been extremely high, and most Republicans are on record already showing they wanted to go forward with a vote," on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, says Reeher. "Those things can’t be walked back."

"One of the things I’ve been most struck by is how the reaction to Trump has so deeply affected state-level contests, even at the district level," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

"The inference would be that he’s more worried about this one," says Professor of Political Science Grant Reeher, about the $16 million [Governor] Cuomo has spent, largely on TV ads championing the economy and his liberal achievements.