Matters of Policy & Politics

Eight years ago, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush wrote a book, Immigration Wars: Forging An American Solution, offering a practical, nonpartisan approach to solving one of America’s most divisive matters – only to see a window for reform in Washington quickly close. The co-author of that book, Hoover fellow and Arizona Supreme Court associate justice Clint Bolick, explains why immigration reform remains elusive and what fixes are most sensible.

A California governor faces a recall election later this year and among the challengers: a Hollywood celebrity with a Republican pedigree. Rob Stutzman, a Sacramento-based political strategist and co-communicator for the global story that was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2003 recall run, explains how the California political landscape has changed in the years since the rise of the “Governator” and whether Caitlyn Jenner or some other recall challenger has what it takes to “terminate” Gavin Newsom.

President Donald Trump entered office in 2017 vowing a dramatic shift in U.S. foreign policy and national security. Four years later, President Joe Biden offers a return more in sync with President Obama’s worldview. H.R. McMaster, the Hoover Institution’s Fouad and Michelle Ajami senior fellow and a former Trump National Security Advisor, offers his thoughts on the effectiveness of the Trump approach and what to expect from the anticipated Biden “re-pivot” on China and Iran.

Five months into his presidency, Joe Biden’s poll numbers show slippage among independents. David Brady and Douglas Rivers, Hoover Institution senior fellows and Stanford University political scientists, assess Biden’s popularity, where Republicans and Democrats depart on COVID vaccines and immigration, plus whether a 2022 midterm election still 500 days away could or won’t resemble 2010’s referendum on the Obama presidency.

Never mind Virginia’s gubernatorial vote: California has its own education-related controversy in the form of a new diversity math curriculum. Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen discuss whether a parental backlash will occur in the Golden State, needed updates to California's water policy and government technology/computers, plus recall movements in San Francisco, and finally poor sportsmanship on display in a high-school football game in Inglewood.