Political Science

On the Reuters news wire, Dan Levine reports on the breakdown of a gentleman's agreement between state Attorneys General not to target each other in elections: For years the national political organizations of both Democratic and Republican state attorneys general observed an agreement not to target the other party's incumbent office-holders in elections.That hands-off … [Read more...] about The AG Cartel Breaks Down

I got bored writing about the State of the Union addresses a few years ago -- Obama was the same thing every year -- but maybe the new guy will be more interesting. Let's see what Donald Trump had to say in his State of the Union Address. I'm just going to think out loud a bit here. I warn you now: It's not going anywhere important.(I'm really tired of hearing why this … [Read more...] about The State of the Union in 2017

I expect the Trump presidency to be a disaster. And given what we've seen so far, I think there are four possible areas where Trump is likely to ruin things. They break down into short-term ruin, medium-term ruin, and long-term ruin, plus a wildcard.We've already seen activity in the short-term area of ruin: Immigration. This is a policy area where the President has a lot … [Read more...] about Four Ways President Trump Can Ruin Things

Okay, I'm still up, and I'd like to talk about that inaugural address. It's all gloom and doom, blamed on elitist politicians and foreigners, leading to Trump's usual calls for nationalism, trade restrictions, and border controls.I was planning to tear into the speech line by line, but I'm too far into the rum to keep it together for as long as that would take, so let me … [Read more...] about Something Missing From Trump’s Inaugural Address

Eight years ago, when Barack Obama had just taken the Presidential oath of office, I wrote that it was "The Highpoint of the Obama Presidency," and I see no reason not to say just about the same thing about the Trump Presidency today.As the most populist presidential candidate in a long time, Trump's supporters have been projecting their hopes and dreams onto him for almost … [Read more...] about The Highpoint of the Trump Presidency