Monthly since April 2019, I have updated my weighted-adjusted polling averages for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. You may read about my aggregation methods here, but a key difference between my algorithm and those used by some other polling aggregators (e.g. RealClearPolitics) is that I use every publicly-available poll (as listed on FiveThirtyEight.com) released since … Continue reading Looking in the mirror, 2020 Democratic nomination polls edition
Author: Matthew Berger
I am a data geek, history researcher, writer and househusband with academic training in political science (BA, Yale; MA, Harvard), biostatistics (MA, Boston University) and epidemiology (PhD, BU). I published Interrogating Memory: Film Noir Spurs a Deep Dive Into My Family History...and My Own in 2022. As of July 2026, I seek a publisher for its completed follow-up, The West Philadelphia Story: An Immigrant Jewish Journey. I plan a third book on my idiosyncratic GenX life. My musical trinity is Genesis, Miles Davis and Stan Ridgway. A liberal Democrat, I know a healthy democracy demands cross-partisan cooperation. I grew up just outside Philadelphia, and I live just outside Boston, where my wife and children keep me happy, sane and grounded.
Interrogating memory: The Beatles, wax museums and a diner mystery solved
To the extent my writing over the last three years has a theme (or perhaps even a brand), it is what I call interrogating memory. At one level, this is just a fancy term for “fact-checking,” as in looking through my elementary school report cards (I am missing the one for third grade[1]) to confirm … Continue reading Interrogating memory: The Beatles, wax museums and a diner mystery solved
August 2019 update: 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and general election polling
It has been just over two weeks since the second Democratic presidential nomination debates, so it is time for an updated assessment of the relative position of the 23 declared candidates remaining. Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel ended his campaign on August 6, 2019, and it appears former Colorado John Hickenlooper will end his bid … Continue reading August 2019 update: 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and general election polling
July 2019 update: 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and general election polling
With the second Democratic presidential nomination debates scheduled for the evenings of Tuesday, July 30, 2019 and Wednesday, July 30, 2019, here is an updated assessment of the relative position of the 25 declared candidates; because United States House of Representatives member (“Representative”) Eric Swalwell of California dropped out of the race on July 8, … Continue reading July 2019 update: 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and general election polling
Road trips and the fine art of tipping (Epilogue)
Following the election of Republican Donald J. Trump as president of the United States in 2016, I immediately began to donate small sums to a wide variety of organizations and political candidates. And as the race to the be the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee began to take shape, I began making $10 donations to my … Continue reading Road trips and the fine art of tipping (Epilogue)
Road trips and the fine art of tipping (Part 2)
We pulled out of our Brookline driveway in my wife Nell’s Honda Pilot, bound for the Hilton in Bath, Maine, at 10:15 am. Within an hour-and-a-half, we had left our golden retriever safely in the care of Nell’s mother and were driving north on I-95. Unwittingly, though, we had joined the molasses-slow line of cars … Continue reading Road trips and the fine art of tipping (Part 2)
Road trips and the fine art of tipping (Part I)
A few weeks ago, I finally watched Reservoir Dogs. I am very squeamish about blood (seeing it can literally cause me physical pain[1]), and I knew there was a great deal of bloodletting in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 heist-gone-wrong neo-noir masterpiece. Plus, a friend had once informed me she could never hear the Stealers Wheel song … Continue reading Road trips and the fine art of tipping (Part I)
Happy July 4th! Here is my American story.
Happy 4th of July! Let me first note, transparent in my pedantry, the Declaration of Independence was actually approved on July 2, 1776. Nonetheless, it was dated July 4, 1776 and signed August 2, 1776. Allow me next to relate I was physically born (at long-since-closed Metropolitan Hospital, then at 3rd and Spruce) roughly 1/5 … Continue reading Happy July 4th! Here is my American story.
The first 2020 Democratic debates, or Why the Trump campaign should be nervous…
With the first Democratic presidential nomination debates scheduled for Wednesday, June 26, 2019 and Thursday, June 27, 2019, here is an updated assessment of the relative position of the 25 declared candidates; former United States House of Representatives member (“Representative”) Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania declared his candidacy June 23, 2019). For details on how I … Continue reading The first 2020 Democratic debates, or Why the Trump campaign should be nervous…
Remembrance of restaurants past (and present)
Father’s Day was this past Sunday, June 16, 2019. Having now been a father for more than a decade, I am perfectly content with a low-key celebration: dinner out with the family, perhaps, somewhere special but child-friendly. Maybe somewhere a little further afield, so we add a nice drive as well. Given that restaurants are … Continue reading Remembrance of restaurants past (and present)
Just Bear With Me... 