Obligatory Electoral College Maps Are Obligatory

November 6, 2012
If the antiquated Electoral College is good for one thing, it’s making fun maps.  Here are some Electoral College results you might see tomorrow morning (or late tonight if you’re… Read More

Strange Bedfellows: Why Jonathan Chait Should Root for Ohio State this Saturday

November 2, 2012
Jonathan Chait graduated from the University of Michigan in 1994.  If you follow him on Twitter or read his columns at The New Republic, you know that, in… Read More

Quick Response on Polarization

October 22, 2012
Voteview has a very interesting look into my last post. I highly recommend it for those interested in the problem. They run an experiment by eliminating all the close… Read More

The Polarization Culprits

October 21, 2012
Jennifer Victor and Seth Masket recently posted a couple very good posts over at the  Mischeifs of Faction on polarization in Congress. If you aren’t already reading… Read More

The Ratings War: Does It Matter?

September 12, 2012
Nothing epitomizes the horse race nature of presidential politics quite like the conventions ratings war.  For example, Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh were quick to dismiss the DNC’s higher… Read More

Google Politics: “Register to Vote”

September 7, 2012
This from Google Politics today on the Twitters: Here are some additional data from Google Trends for you to chew on.  Thoughts on the relevance or irrelevance of these data are… Read More

Paul Ryan “Worked With Democrats as Often as Any Republican.”

August 27, 2012
The effort to define Paul Ryan is in full swing.  While most political observers are well aware of Ryan’s record, prior to his VP selection fully 43% of Americans… Read More

The Veepstakes: What’s the Electoral Value of a Vice President?

August 11, 2012
A few hours ago, Mitt Romney announced Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan as his running mate.  It seems obvious that in picking Ryan, Romney is trying to solidify his position with fiscal conservatives… Read More

Some Thoughts on Americans Elect, Polarization and Gridlock

April 11, 2012
In January I was invited to speak at a roundtable hosted by Americans Elect–a nonpartisan presidential nominating organization.  As you may know, Americans Elect (AE) has garnered quite a bit of… Read More

Reforming Polarization and Gridlock: Series on Congressional Reform

March 14, 2012
For someone who studies congressional development, the past couple years have been frustrating. Many people with noble intentions proposed reforms to remedy our dysfunctional Congress. However, these discussions have almost universally… Read More