2018 Election Cheat Sheet: How did I do?

I should apologize to our younger daughter’s friend’s mother. In my…determination…to be settled in front of the television with snacks and beverages at precisely 6 pm EST on November 6, 2018, I might have been a bit abrupt collecting our youngest daughter from a local taqueria where said friend’s mother had generously taken them to … Continue reading 2018 Election Cheat Sheet: How did I do? →

A plea to readers with two weeks until Election Day 2018 ends…

The 2018 midterm elections end in two weeks, on November 6, 2018. I write “end” because early voting is underway in 28 states, including Massachusetts. In fact, it opened Monday, October 22, and so I dragged our two daughters to Brookline Town Hall so they could participate in the process. And, yes, I voted straight … Continue reading A plea to readers with two weeks until Election Day 2018 ends… →

An update on projected 2018 Democratic U. S. House seat gains

UPDATED Midnight EST, November 20, 2018. As of this writing, Democrats have netted 38 seats in the United States House of Representatives, with three races still to be called. Democrat Ben McAdams narrowly leads incumbent Republican Mia Love in Utah's 4th Congressional District (CD), while Democrats trail narrowly in California's 21st and Georgia's 7th CD. … Continue reading An update on projected 2018 Democratic U. S. House seat gains →

Projected 2018 Democratic U.S. House seat gains

This piece (only available to subscribers) appeared earlier today on Taegan Goddard’s absolutely essential Political Wire. A new Brennan Center report says “extreme gerrymandering” could cost Democrats control of the House unless they ride a massive blue wave. Because of maps designed to favor Republicans, Democrats would need to win by a nearly unprecedented nationwide margin in … Continue reading Projected 2018 Democratic U.S. House seat gains →

Positively pondering pesky probabilities, perchance

One inspiration to start this “data-driven storytelling” blog was the pioneering work of Nate Silver and his fellow data journalists at FiveThirtyEight.com; their analyses are an essential “critical thinking” reality check to my own conclusions and perceptions. Indeed, when I finally get around to designing and teaching my course on critical thinking (along with my … Continue reading Positively pondering pesky probabilities, perchance →

Where do rank-and-file Democrats (and Independents) stand on issues right now?

In the wake of Democratic underperformance in the 2016 elections (losing the Electoral College, insufficient gains to win back the United States House of Representatives [House] or United States Senate [Senate], net loss of two governorships, hemorrhaging state legislative seats), various “autopsies” were released. Some autopsies reached conclusions that contradicted the finding of other autopsies … Continue reading Where do rank-and-file Democrats (and Independents) stand on issues right now? →

First thoughts on the Senate vote NOT to repeal the ACA

At 1:29 am EST on July 28, 2017, the last of three closely-watched Republican United States Senators (Senators) announced their votes on the “skinny repeal” bill, a bill intended to partially repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka ACA, aka Obamacare). According to Anna Maria Barry-Jester of the data journalism website FiveThirtyEight.com, the … Continue reading First thoughts on the Senate vote NOT to repeal the ACA →

July 2017 Odds and Ends

My wife tells me that she gets annoyed when blogs she follows take too much time between posts. For mostly travel-related reasons, I have not been able to post a full article since July 6, and I will not be able to do so again for another week at least. Since my preference is never … Continue reading July 2017 Odds and Ends →

Clinton Derangement, or The Birth of a Notion

During the 2016 campaign, I was struck by two overlapping narratives. One was the intensity of animus toward Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, particularly among Republicans. This felt to me less like policy disagreement and more like personal vendetta. This animus expressed itself manufactured outrage (and HOURS of Congressional hearings) over the Islamist militant attack … Continue reading Clinton Derangement, or The Birth of a Notion →

Democrats’ current generic ballot advantage is JUST enough to recapture the House in 2018

On June 5, 2017, the data journalism website fivethirtyeight.com introduced its new yardstick to assess which political party is winning the battle to control the U.S. House of Representatives (House) after the 2018 midterm elections. This tool is a weighted average of “generic ballot polls,” polls that ask respondents some variant of the question “If the … Continue reading Democrats’ current generic ballot advantage is JUST enough to recapture the House in 2018 →