For the 22 minutes of the Democratic primary debate in Houston that I could stomach last night (I read transcripts this morning): I expect nothing to change in the poll numbers. Debates like these are completely pointless. Harris going after Trump in her opening statement was good theatre– her team seems pretty good at that. […]
Read more "22 Thoughts…"Several years ago my hometown newspaper ran a series on race in Lima, Ohio. That during a continuous political and cultural moment where so many of my family and friends were posting defenses for a variety of openly racist policies and politicians not one mentioned– even disparagingly– an earnest examination of the subject locally bothered […]
Read more "The 1619 Project"I have tried to avoid much commentary on guns and gun control in the aftermath of yet two more mass shootings (the white supremacist attack on a Wal-Mart in El Paso and the at this point indecipherable attack in Dayton). It is a circular argument that goes nowhere and I don’t care to burn what […]
Read more "On Guns, Culture, and Bad Faith"Progressive Democratic policy promoters have been working overtime during this primary season to flood the field with ideas. The latest one making the rounds in stump speeches and media appearances is the YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) movement. The Atlantic has the details: The four candidates are demonstrating how much traction the YIMBY movement—the […]
Read more "YIMBY is Bad Politics"Bernie Sanders recently announced a campaign policy to cancel all outstanding student loan debt. I often think Sanders proposals are unimaginative and unattainable. This one is actually pretty feasible, which makes the response to it by conservatives and more moderate liberals all the more absurd. The common ground in these flanking criticisms is “why should […]
Read more "On Cancelling Student Loan Debt"Nate Silver has some startling news for us: Bulletpoint No. 1: Actually, maybe the moderate Democrats are more popular with swing voters Bulletpoint No. 2: High-information voters love Elizabeth Warren — and not Bernie Sanders Silver’s points here all match up with common sense. Who is surprised that moderates are more popular with less partisan […]
Read more "Data Says Completely Obvious Things and My Analysis of the Current Democratic Field"Few things moderate my politics more than bad faith arguments and policy positions that ignore the messy reality of economic conditions, political viability, and democracy. Perhaps no single outlet does more to keep me a center-left moderate than the Jacobin. A recent piece entitled “A Defeat for Frackers” is a great example of this. My […]
Read more "A Defeat for Frackers?"