What Is US Congress Posting About In The Leadup To The Election?

Throughout this blog, you can click the small map icon in the bottom-left corner of this text box to explore the full dataset in Atlas with its complete set of features. You can also click on the up/down arrows to move from frame to frame.

This blog is a preview release of Data Stories, which will allow anyone to embed their Atlas data maps within their own blogs and websites.

Atlas infers topics and sub-topics for neighborhoods of similar data, which we can see in the different-colored regions of the map with topic and sub-topic labels when we zoom in.

The closer two points appear, the more related the content of the posts.

If you are reading this on your desktop, these maps are interactive!

Hover over points to view posts, click points to change tooltip data, and click topics to filter the map (click again to unfilter).

Now, points are colored by party: blue for Democrats, red for Republicans, and orange for Independents. This helps visualize where parties align or differ on various topics.

There are plenty of issues Democrats and Republicans in Congress can agree on. For example: America's national parks are beautiful and worth celebrating and protecting.

We can see that when offering condolences on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Democrats and Republicans tend to post with similar language.

Posts about veterans' healthcare and benefits show bipartisan agreement, with both parties consistently supporting expanded services. For example, the 2022 vote on the PACT Act passed with broad bipartisan support.

But contemporary news events can reveal stark partisan divides in Congressional reactions. A striking example emerges when we apply a filter for posts containing the word "Afghanistan".

A distinct cluster can be seen toward the top of the map, revealing a sharp ideological split between Democratic and Republican messaging.

This region of the map shows posts from the aftermath of President Biden's decision to remove American military presence in Afghanistan in 2021.

Education is also a highly polarized subject in the way it is discussed between Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats are posting more about college affordability, whereas Republicans are posting more about expanding school choice options.

Tax policy reveals another clear partisan split in congressional messaging: Republicans consistently push for tax cuts and simpler tax codes, while Democrats focus their messaging on using tax revenue to support public programs and services.

Partisan differences emerge in posts with a filter for "Elon Musk": several Democrats frequently criticize him on matters of taxes, as seen in Rep. Brad Sherman's (D-CA) post: "Now we know why Elon Musk and other billionaires are supporting Trump: he's offering to completely exempt them from U.S. income tax."

In contrast, this region of the map shows Republican support for Musk's positions on content moderation and government oversight, exemplified by Republican Senator John Cornyn's September 9, 2024 post: "Trump's Best Idea: Unleashing Elon Musk on Government"

Despite the partisan divides evident in many policy areas, there remain critical issues where bipartisan consensus enables meaningful legislative action.

The opioid crisis exemplifies this dynamic - both Democratic and Republican lawmakers consistently advocate for comprehensive government intervention in addressing substance use disorders, including expanded access to treatment, support for harm reduction programs, and increased funding for recovery services.

This shared recognition of addiction as a public health crisis rather than a partisan issue has enabled the passage of significant legislation like the SUPPORT Act and the State Opioid Response Grant program.

So what has congress been especially posting about in the leadup to the election?

We set a time filter for May - October 2024 to see which topics from the map stand out in the recent months.

One region of the map that stands out shows that Democratic lawmakers have been emphasizing local infrastructure and clean energy investments as evidence of the effectiveness of the Inflation Reduction Act and other Biden administration policies.

But the top of the map shows a stronger divide in recent messaging with two dominant partisan narratives: Democratic legislators have prioritized reproductive healthcare policy amid evolving state regulations, while Republican representatives have concentrated on border security and immigration reform.

The latter's messaging consistently frames border management as a critical national security issue, with particular emphasis on policy differences with the current administration.

The frequency and intensity of posts about immigration suggests this will be a key electoral focus for the Republican party.