Category Archives: voting and elections

Ballot Tracking in NC

I am heading off to Vanderbilt University tomorrow to lecture to John Geer’s introductory American politics class, and I am pretty sure there will be a relative in the audience! I have been slashing away at the North Carolina absentee ballot file tonight, just to show … finish reading Ballot Tracking in NC

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, voting and elections | Comments Off on Ballot Tracking in NC

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

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

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, Political commentary, voting and elections | Comments Off on How many people vote early? Or when 50% becomes 45% becomes 17%.

The Twitterverse Interview with Issenberg, Victory Lab

Read the Twitter conversation between Sasha Issenberg and Christina Bellantoni (PBS Newshour).  Search on @victorylab or follow this link for the questions: https://twitter.com/#!/search/%40victorylab

Posted in Activities and Events, voting and elections | Tagged | Comments Off on The Twitterverse Interview with Issenberg, Victory Lab

Counterfactuals and Campaigns

I’ve been reflecting on my differences with John Sides about the impact of gaffes, and I realize that explaining counterfactuals–an issue that John raises effectively in his recent posting– is very challenging.  It’s challenging to explain to students, who tolerate our philosophizing … finish reading Counterfactuals and Campaigns

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, voting and elections | Comments Off on Counterfactuals and Campaigns

Update from Millionaire’s Island

It’s difficult to know quite what to say about Mitt Romney’s statements about the 47% of American society who don’t pay taxes and apparently utterly dependent on government and solidly in the Obama camp. The statement is inaccurate in so … finish reading Update from Millionaire’s Island

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, voting and elections | Comments Off on Update from Millionaire’s Island

Mitt, Barack, and Osama: A modern take on non-attitudes (with hat tip to Bartels and Converse)

Tip of the hat to Larry Bartels at The Monkey Cage blog who provides a brief reference to this story by Dylan Matthews, “Do 15% of Ohio Republicans think Romney killed Osama bin Laden? Probably not.” Matthews asks: Public Policy … finish reading Mitt, Barack, and Osama: A modern take on non-attitudes (with hat tip to Bartels and Converse)

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, voting and elections | Comments Off on Mitt, Barack, and Osama: A modern take on non-attitudes (with hat tip to Bartels and Converse)

More on Killian

(Apologies to my commenter; I can’t get the graphics into a comment. I appreciate the comment, and you’re right–if I collapse the categories into Independent (including leaner), Weak, and Strong Affiliators, the Independent value is significantly lower from the two … finish reading More on Killian

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, voting and elections | Comments Off on More on Killian

Why Linda Killian gets just about everything wrong

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. … finish reading Why Linda Killian gets just about everything wrong

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, Political commentary, voting and elections | Comments Off on Why Linda Killian gets just about everything wrong

Why the marathon story has legs, or a paean to Walter Lippman

There are those moments where real politics provides a teachable moment, far more effective than any anecdote or statistic.  Today, my public opinion class was reading Walter Lippman’s classic text, Public Opinion.  The continuing chatter about Paul Ryan’s misstatement about his marathon … finish reading Why the marathon story has legs, or a paean to Walter Lippman

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, voting and elections | Comments Off on Why the marathon story has legs, or a paean to Walter Lippman

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

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

Posted in Faculty, Paul Gronke, Political commentary, voting and elections | Comments Off on Pants-On-Fire Politics can be an argument AND a tactic