Category Archives: Elections and politics

The Right To Vote Amendment

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s disgusting Shelby decision, Representatives Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) have proposed a new Congressional Constitutional Amendment, which has been endorsed by the Democratic National Committee. The text of their proposed amendment: … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics | 26 Comments

Democrats Get Creamed Like A 13-Year-Old’s Coffee: The 2014 Elections Discussion Thread

Thank goodness I live in Oregon, where getting stoned will soon be legal. And it’s not just that this year is a bad map for us. We lost Massachusetts! That’s just pathetic. (We lost Massachusetts? Seriously, what will it take … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics | 26 Comments

I’d rather vote for a Democratic slimeball than a Republican saint

(Fortunately for my preference, Democratic slimeballs don’t seem to be in short supply.) In the comments at Ethics Alarms, “Michael R” writes: How to tell if you are infected [with “partyism”]: if there is an election where the candidate for … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics | 15 Comments

Eric Cantor Loses Primary Race; Tea Party Looking Like Popeye After A Spinach Binge

At some level, I just plain enjoy GOP House Leader Eric Cantor losing the Republican primary, even though his Tea Party opponent David Brat is as awful as you’d expect. But even though I don’t like the David or the … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics | 8 Comments

Federal Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin Voter ID Law

From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: In a decision that could have implications nationally and in Wisconsin’s November elections, a federal judge on Tuesday struck down the state’s voter ID law, saying it violated the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics | 25 Comments

The surprising parity of the 2012 ground game

At the Monkey Cage, a couple of Harvard professors report on their new study, which found that Romney’s ground game was apparently as good as Obama’s: …despite the media accounts of the superiority and sophistication of the Obama campaign, we … Continue reading

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Millions To Be Spent On Battleground Secretary of State Races in 2014

Both liberals and conservatives will put more money than ever into key Secretary of State races in 2014. The officials who win these races will have a great deal of power over voting rules in the 2016 election. From the … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics | 1 Comment

Which States Enact Voter ID Laws? The Most Racist Ones

PolicyMic nicely sums up recent research on what factors made it likely that a state enacted Voter ID laws in 2011: According to new research by University of Massachusetts Boston sociologist Keith Bentele and political scientist Erin O’Brien, the states … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics, Race, racism and related issues | 37 Comments

More on Felony Disenfranchisement, America’s Most Racist Policy

Columbia Law Professor Vivian Berger, quoted at TalkLeft, writes: These laws have a disproportionate impact on minorities — 1.4 million black men cannot vote. That is a rate of 13 percent — seven times the national average. A majority of … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics, Prisons and Justice and Police, Race, racism and related issues | 37 Comments

Four Reasons Racist Voter ID Laws Matter

In the last year, I’ve seen several people posting suggesting that voter ID laws shouldn’t worry Democrats much (the most prominent were these two posts by Nate Cohn). But despite a disproportionate impact on Democratic-leaning groups, the electoral consequences of … Continue reading

Posted in Elections and politics, Race, racism and related issues | 6 Comments