This year hasn’t been a great one for polling, data operations, or vaunted GOTV efforts. If it had been so, then Hillary Clinton would now be president-elect. So much conventional tactical analysis (much of which I accepted) has proved erroneous. There’s no gain, and much harm, in focusing on the tactical now. Even if one…
Politics
Freedom of Speech, Politics, Trump
Of Course Most #NeverTrumpers Will Capitulate
by JOHN ADAMS •
Thousands who (admirably) devoted themselves to the #NeverTrump movement have already (sadly) begun to second-guess their opposition now that Trump’s heading to federal power. Ben Terris nicely describes the impulse – the natural reaction to yield to power – in Welcome to NeverTrump Grief, Stage 3: GOP skeptics bargain with Trump — and themselves. One…
Bigotry, Politics, Press
‘Critics Say So’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Is Stephen Bannon, newly-appointed chief strategist to Donald Trump, a racist. A headline to a story on that subject comes with a limitation: critics say so. (See, Is Trump’s new chief strategist a racist? Critics say so.) There’s the weakness of a legacy press: big money, high self-regard, but a small appetite for declaring definitely the character of a person’s…
History, Law, Liberty, Politics, Presidential race 2016, Trump
Kevin Drum on Trump and the End of Reconstruction
by JOHN ADAMS •
Blogging at Mother Jones, Kevin Drum – like many of us, of whatever politics – seems uncertain about the consequences of a Trump Administration. (In fairness, much has happened in a short time, and it’s hard to make sense of it all.) Still, Drum’s thinking has shifted significantly over the last few days, in ways…
Johnson-Weld, Libertarians, Politics, Presidential race 2016
Where Libertarians Stand on the Presidential Race
by JOHN ADAMS •
Libertarians have a political philosophy, and may also be members of a political party using that same name. For those of us who are both ideologically libertarian and members of the national party (as I am), the statement yesterday from Libertarian vice presidential candidate Bill Weld (a former Republican governor of Massachusetts), summaries nicely our…
Campaign Ads, Politics
‘Please Re-Elect Gerald’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Politics, Poll, Presidential race 2016, US Senate Race 2016
Marquette Law Poll Results (Early October ’16 Edition)
by JOHN ADAMS •
The early October Marquette Law School poll results are out, and here are two key findings from the 10.6.16 to 10.9.16 poll (the full results will be available online later this afternoon). Clinton-Trump-Johnson-Stein, Among LV: New Marquette Law School Poll, Wisconsin likely voters: Clinton 44% Trump 37% Johnson 9%Stein 3%#MULawPoll — MULawPoll (@MULawPoll) October 12,…
City, Culture, Local Government, Politics
Twenty-Five Years On: School Board & City
by JOHN ADAMS •
Alternative title: Culture Advances While Beyond Politics Far Lags Behind. Over at the Banner, there’s a new feature entitled, “A mini-look at local history – a new Banner Monday project!” The 10.10.16 entry is about two public actions from twenty-five years ago. I’m all for history (local or otherwise), but the entry is telling coming from a…
City, Education, Politics, School District
At Whitewater’s Common Council Meeting, 10.4.16
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are a few moments from last night’s Common Council meeting that I’ll consider briefly today. Budget. It’s fall, and so for Whitewater’s local government that means a proposed budget rollout, and Council sessions principally occupied with that subject through November. On efficiency of government services, City Manager Clapper remarked that one can expect municipal…
Politics, Presidential race 2016
Preparation
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve posted observations from Stuart Stevens, a GOP consultant and writer not affiliated with any presidential candidate this year. Here’s another, after last night’s debate: Saw last night why campaign managers focus on helping their candidates prepare for debates & don’t live on tv talking about debates. — stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) September 27, 2016 Preparation…
Politics, Poll, Presidential race 2016, US Senate Race 2016, Wisconsin
Marquette Law Poll Results (Mid-September ’16 Edition)
by JOHN ADAMS •
The mid-September Marquette Law School poll results are out, and here are a few key findings from the 9.15.16 to 9.18.16 poll (the full results will be available online later this afternoon). Clinton-Trump, Among LV: New Marquette Law School Poll finds Clinton leading Trump among likely voters in WI 44% to 42%. #mulawpoll — MULawPoll…
City, Politics
Bike Lanes & Entitlement
by JOHN ADAMS •
Local Government, Politics, Press
‘He Said, She Said’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Alternative title — False Balance While Dealing with Liars, Exaggerators, and Other Political Miscreants. There’s considerable consternation in the national press that traditional ‘he said, she said’ political coverage, where each side of a question gets an equal, unchallenged say, doesn’t work when one candidate is an inveterate liar: A certain etiquette has long governed…
City, Politics
The Web Has Changed Local Politics, Too
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at the Wall Street Journal, there’s a story about how e-commerce has changed rural life: MANGUM, Okla.—Vince Bledsoe, a United Parcel Service Inc. delivery man in this remote tiny town, remembers the exact moment he knew that e-commerce had changed the way rural America shops. He was taping up a package a few months…