“The past year’s population growth rate in the United States was the slowest in a century due to declining births, increasing deaths and the slowdown of international migration,” the AP reports.

“The U.S. grew from 2018 to 2019 by almost a half percent, or about 1.5 million people, with the population standing at 328 million this year, according to population estimates.”

A USA Today/Suffolk University Poll this month asked Americans if they thought things would get better or worse in their own lives in 2020.

By an overwhelming 80% to 11%, they predicted their lives would be better.

Colorado Sun: “A decade ago, Colorado voters were evenly split into thirds, but since 2010, the voting populace not aligned with any political party has steadily increased. And at the start of December, Colorado reached a new milestone — 40% of the state’s voters are now unaffiliated.”

“The new number holds huge importance. Not only does it bust the myth about Colorado’s even partisan split, but the unaffiliated voters are poised to define the 2020 election year. The proportion of unaffiliated voters is expected to increase and this segment will receive outsized attention from the campaigns for the White House and U.S. Senate.”

A new Public Agenda/USA TODAY/Ipsos poll finds, by overwhelming margins, Americans surveyed said national leaders, social media and the news media “have exacerbated and exaggerated those divisions, sometimes for their own benefit and to the detriment of ordinary people.”

“More than nine of 10 – about as close to unanimity as a national poll usually reaches – said it’s important for the United States to try to reduce that divisiveness. Figuring out how to have a constructive conversation with folks on the other side would be a good start, most said.”

“A final tally of babies born in the U.S. last year confirms that the birth rate fell again in 2018, reaching the lowest level in more than three decades,” NBC News reports.

“A closer look at the data suggests that Americans are not having enough babies to sustain the population.”

The Atlantic: “A tectonic demographic shift is under way. Can the country hold together?”

Ron Brownstein: “The shift of metro areas away from the Republican Party under President Donald Trump rumbled on in yesterday’s elections, threatening the fundamental calculation of his 2020 reelection plan.”

“Amid all the various local factors that shaped GOP losses—from Kentucky to Virginia, from suburban Philadelphia to Wichita, Kansas—the clearest pattern was a continuing erosion of the party’s position in the largest metropolitan areas. Across the highest-profile races, Democrats benefited from two trends favoring them in metro areas: high turnout in urban cores that have long been the party’s strongholds, and improved performance in white-collar suburban areas that previously leaned Republican.”

A new Monmouth poll finds 69% of America is greatly divided when it comes to our most important values. Just 27% say Americans are united and in agreement on these values.

The sense that the country is divided is fairly similar among Democrats (74%), Republicans (68%), and independents (66%).

A new Pew Research survey finds that 55% of Republicans say Democrats are “more immoral” when compared with other Americans; 47% of Democrats say the same about Republicans. Three years ago, 47% of Republicans and 35% of Democrats said members of the other party were less moral than other people.

For the most part, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to ascribe negative characteristics to people in the opposing party, with one exception: 75% of Democrats say Republicans are ‘more closed-minded’ than other Americans, while 64% of Republicans say the same about Democrats.

FiveThirtyEight: “Moderate, independent and undecided voters are not the same, and none of these groups are reliably centrist. They are ideologically diverse, so there is no simple policy solution that will appeal to all of them.”

Wall Street Journal: “America’s political polarization is almost complete. Its two main political parties increasingly represent two different economies. And they barely overlap.”

First Read: “What we’ve learned the last three years since the 2016 election and original Brexit vote is that disruption tactics work, especially for political parties and movements that appear to be at a crossroads.”

“What we don’t know is how disruption movements end.”

“Do voters around the world crave for stability? Or do they prefer to fight disruption with more disruption?”

“That, in fact, is one of the essential debates in the 2020 Democratic presidential race, with Joe Biden campaigning on stability and Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren calling for revolution/structural change.”

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that — despite Americans’ overall satisfaction with the state of the U.S. economy and their own personal finances — a majority say they are angry at the nation’s political and financial establishment, anxious about its economic future, and pessimistic about the country they’re leaving for the next generation.

The poll finds that 70% of Americans say they feel angry “because our political system seems to only be working for the insiders with money and power, like those on Wall Street or in Washington.”

The Hill: “For lawmakers and political candidates, 2019 has become the year of not giving a fuck about cursing.”

“Profanity — once considered a major no-no among those seeking public office — is now no longer an earth-shattering political snafu. And according to new research, this year is on track to see members of Congress swearing up a storm more than ever before.”

A new Gallup poll finds just 29% of American adults support statehood for Washington, DC, while 64% oppose it.

Vice: “One of the most disheartening signs of our advancing hellworld are the thousands of people who wholeheartedly believe in the deranged conspiracy known as QAnon.”

“It’s near impossible to summarize the entire QAnon conspiracy theory, as it’s fluid and ever-changing. The nuts and bolts are that a secret government insider, the titular Q, has taken to the internet forum 8chan of all places to drop clues (known in the community as Q Drops breadcrumbs) about how President Trump is taking down the deep state. The conspiracy takes some twists and turns into the occult, an ever-present cabal of pedophiles, possible executions, and the idea JFK Jr. may have faked his own death and is cosplaying as an old guy who goes to Trump rallies.”

“While the QAnon conspiracy often feels like an elaborate troll, an online community of real, actual people has built up around it.”