With the recent—and thoroughly warranted—attention on the excellent Democratic prospects for recapturing control of the United States House of Representatives (“House”) and their improving (though still less than 50%) chance to do the same in the United States Senate (“Senate”) this November 6, there has been insufficient focus on the 36 gubernatorial elections being held … Continue reading 2018 Gubernatorial Elections: Where the REAL action is
Category: Politics
UPDATE: State of play in the 2018 Senate elections
Just as FiveThirtyEight.com released its Senate forecast, I update this post on the outlook for Democrats in the 36 elections for the United States Senate (“Senate”) this November 6 (and beyond, in the Mississippi special election). Feel free to compare and contrast the two. To be more precise, I am updating the tables and a … Continue reading UPDATE: State of play in the 2018 Senate elections
2018 U.S. Senate elections: the state of play after Labor Day
I have written in broad terms (here and here) about the 36 United States Senate (“Senate”) races which will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate after the November 2018 midterm elections[1]. Including Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Democrats control 49 seats; Republicans hold the remaining 51 seats … Continue reading 2018 U.S. Senate elections: the state of play after Labor Day
John McCain and the essential bipartisan impulse
I eagerly anticipated the evening of Tuesday, November 4, 1986 for months. As a 20-year-old political science major and political junkie, Election Day was (and remains) one of my favorite days of the year. Plus, as a lifelong Democrat, I was particularly excited by the prospect the Democrats could win the net four seats necessary … Continue reading John McCain and the essential bipartisan impulse
A Supreme opportunity to overcome partisan rancor
During my senior year at Yale, I took a seminar called “Political Uses of History.” The topic of my final paper (accounting for most of the course grade[1]) was the history lessons used to defend/critique the nomination of U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Appeals Court) Judge Robert Bork to … Continue reading A Supreme opportunity to overcome partisan rancor
Bipartisanship as patriotism
I started quietly screaming here. But my deep revulsion for what the United States government, my government, the government elegantly outlined in our founding documents, is doing along our southern border (not the northern border with majority-northern-European Canada, mind you) boiled over the other night in this (annotated) 1,000+-word reply to a similar cri de coeur on … Continue reading Bipartisanship as patriotism
Manifest(o) Identity
Having written and thought a lot about the 2018 United States (US) midterm elections, the first things I read each day (after my e-mail) are Taegan Goddard’s invaluable Political Wire and, of course, FiveThirtyEight. On May 19, 2018, Goddard linked to this commentary by Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman. Waldman argues Democrats should abandon the … Continue reading Manifest(o) Identity
Why I chose…Dynamics of the Party System
In my two previous posts, I began to explain my choices for the Facebook book challenge I completed May 16 (seven covers over seven days, no explanations), addressing my interest in crime, both fictional and real. I now turn away from crime (fictional and otherwise) and toward something far more sinister and horrifying. Politics. ********** … Continue reading Why I chose…Dynamics of the Party System
The Butterfly (ballot) Effect
It is a curious fact that on November 10, 2002, just two days after the United Nations (UN) Security Council passed Resolution 144, requiring Iraq to readmit UN weapons inspectors and comply with prior Security Council resolutions, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, M.D. gave the keynote address at the 2002 Annual Meeting and Expo of … Continue reading The Butterfly (ballot) Effect
What if Dewey HAD defeated Truman…
This is one of the most iconic photographs in American history. Easy as it is now to mock the editors of the Chicago Tribune for jumping the gun on the 1948 presidential election, they were merely anticipating what Americans thought was going to happen: incumbent Democratic president Harry S Truman (who had become president in … Continue reading What if Dewey HAD defeated Truman…
Just Bear With Me... 