There are more states under single-party control now than at any time since WW2

GOP State Control

When you speak of “single-party control” in state politics, you mean both houses of state government (House/Senate) and the Governor’s office. Just before the 2010 midterm elections, the Republicans had nine such states. Today, they have 23. Via Mother Jones, they… Continue Reading

Brief thought exercise: has modern politics mostly become about Big Data and targeting?

Famous narrative of Obama winning in 2008 (and again in 2012) was that the Democratic machine had better data, analysis, and targeting methods. This has been discussed for years. The Republicans have a good deal of problems at the national… Continue Reading

When politics confuses you, remember this: it’s mostly about voting by party

Politics can often be confusing, but if you dig just below the surface, it doesn’t have to be. Consider this. Pew recently did a study on Presidential candidate traits, and they found some things you’d expect: military experience, Governor, business… Continue Reading

So realistically, when is Hillary Clinton going to announce she’s running for President in 2016?

Reference check: Obama announced his 2008 candidacy in the beginning of May 2007. Theoretically, then, Hillary Clinton probably has an entire year until she needs to do anything — she might actually have more time, because the brand is so well-known… Continue Reading

From 1979 to 2012, only four U.S. states — Alaska, Arkansas, South Dakota and Hawaii — saw income inequality rise by LESS than 10 percent

Cool article in The Atlantic Cities on the growth of American income inequality from 1979 to 2012; essentially, in 1979, there were 11 states (and D.C.) that had rates of inequality (as measured by Gini) that exceeded the rate for the U.S.… Continue Reading

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How about Brian Sandoval as a 2016 political force, either against Harry Reid or in a dark-horse run at the Presidency?

I initially wanted to write a post about Gary Herbert, the Governor of Utah — by some measures, he’s the most popular Governor in America. Problem is, he’s a Republican, and Utah is a pretty red state — obviously it went… Continue Reading

Political trend line: young white millennials are basically libertarians. Can they save the GOP?

The electoral map isn’t very favorable to the GOP, and their strategy/culture isn’t either, and while they may do OK in the midterms — midterms typically favor the non-Presidential party anyway — their 2016 prospects look dim at present. But ah ha!… Continue Reading

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2014 Elections Trend: Anti-incumbent attitudes are near a record high, but there’s very few toss-up races. Why?

Check out the chart above and some of the charts herein, and you could argue that the 2014 midterms have the highest anti-incumbent polling stance in about 22-24 years — seems like 68 percent of those polled are saying they want to… Continue Reading