Category Archives: Political commentary

How many people vote early? Or when 50% becomes 45% becomes 17%.

Posted on September 25, 2012 by gronkep

There have been some breathless stories over the last few days that vastly overstate the number of Americans who are likely to cast an early ballot, in person or no-excuse absentee, in the next few weeks. Kyle Inskeep of NBC … Continue reading →

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Democracies and Decision Making: Fluoride Edition

Posted on September 12, 2012 by gronkep

The Portland City Council voted to add fluoride to the Portland water system today, thus ending the city’s dubious distinction as the largest municipality in the U.S. without fluoride in its water.  The debate has been heated–just peruse the comments … Continue reading →

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Why Linda Killian gets just about everything wrong

Posted on September 7, 2012 by gronkep

My students learn early on a few things that really annoy me: imprecise wording and unsupported generalizations. And I labor to give them the analytical toolbox to help them understand politics, but more importantly, develop their critical faculties as citizens. … Continue reading →

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Pants-On-Fire Politics can be an argument AND a tactic

Posted on September 1, 2012 by gronkep

I can’t agree with Ben Smith about “pants on fire” politics.  Smith writes “Democrats attack on  Republican honesty is a campaign ploy, not an argument.”  He denies a charge of “cynical postmodernism,” but I think this is precisely what Smith … Continue reading →

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DC Court has read Robert Caro’s LBJ Bio

Posted on August 31, 2012 by gronkep

I have been reading the decision in State of Texas vs. Holder. I am no election lawyer, but Texas’s position at one point sounds a lot like it is trying to get the Supreme Court to rule Section 5 unconstitional.

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Thoughts on Matty Yglesias’s thoughts on Portlandia

Posted on August 15, 2012 by gronkep

Matty Yglesias is an interesting and provocative economics and politics writer who pens the “Moneybox” column for Slate Magazine.   He recently visited Portland, courtesy of 1000 Friends of Oregon and the Bus Project to talk about his new book. I’ve … Continue reading →

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