He studies public opinion and American elections. He is the author or co-author of a forthcoming book about the 2016 election, Identity Crisis; a book about the 2012 election, The Gamble; a textbook on American campaigns and elections, and scholarly articles on campaign strategy and its effects, attitudes toward immigration, and other topics. He is a founder and the editor-in-chief of The Monkey Cage, a political science site that is part of The Washington Post. He has also written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, Salon, Boston Review, and Bloomberg View. He received his B.A. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.