Nineteenth century phrenologists believed that they could discern a great deal about your abilities and personality by studying the shape of your skull. Today, phrenology is long-discredited. But many voters think they can judge candidates by making similar inferences from their attractiveness and other physical traits. Libby Copeland of Slate has an interesting article summarizing […]
Archive | Elections
Radical Islamists Win Final Round of Egyptian Elections
Although it has been pushed out of the US headlines by the New Hampshire primaries, radical Islamist parties just won the lion’s share of the vote in the final round of the Egyptian elections. I wrote about why this sort of development was a likely and dangerous possibility in several posts going back to the […]
In Defense of Negative Campaigning
In every election year, politicians and pundits routinely attack negative campaigning, claiming that it is somehow inappropriate or harmful. This year, Newt Gingrich has been complaining about it especially loudly. But many others have said similar things. As I see it, negative campaigning is just as useful and just as legitimate as the positive kind. […]
Rick Santorum as this Year’s Mike Huckabee
This year’s election was supposed to be something new and different. However, Rick Santorum, the big winner in this year’s Iowa GOP primary is remarkably similar to the big GOP Iowa winner of 2008: Mike Huckabee. Like Huckabee, Santorum is a hard-core social conservative whose big government proclivities extend far beyond social issues. I covered […]
The Ridiculousness of the Virginia GOP Primary
The Republican primary in my home state of Virginia is becoming ever more ridiculous. First, the state GOP’s byzantine signature-gathering rules prevented all but two of the candidates (Mitt Romney and Ron Paul) from getting on the ballot. Now the state GOP has decided to require all primary voters to take a loyalty oath pledging […]
Libertarians for Huntsman?
It’s no secret that the potential GOP presidential candidates with the greatest appeal for libertarians either stayed out of the race or haven’t done very well. Mitch Daniels and Paul Ryan fall in the former category. Gary Johnson, whom I praised here, has failed to gain traction and looks like he may drop out soon. […]
Herman Cain’s Political Ignorance
Conservative columnist Rich Lowry has an interesting piece on Herman Cain’s ignorance about major public policy: At a meeting with the editors of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cain was asked whether he agreed with Pres. Barack Obama’s handling of Libya. You would think he had been asked who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, Cain’s joshing […]
Atheism, Religion, and Presidential Voting
The New York Times Room for Debate Forum has an interesting symposium on the role of religion in presidential elections. In his contribution, polling expert Andrew Kohut cites a 2007 Pew survey showing that atheism is viewed more negatively by voters than virtually any other possible trait of a presidential candidate. A whopping 63% of […]
Reagan’s infamous speech in Philadelphia, Mississippi
By David Kopel on August 16, 2011 6:18 am in Elections, History, Housing, Political Ignorance, Racism, Tenth Amendment
In 1980, one of the major party presidential nominees opened his general election by delivering a speech in a small town in the Deep South that just by coincidence happened to be the national headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. That same candidate had previously complained about federal housing policies which attempted “to inject black […]
Gary Johnson vs. Ron Paul Revisited
Will Wilkinson of the Economist has written a thoughtful response to my argument that Gary Johnson is both more libertarian and more politically viable than Ron Paul. Will seems to agree with me that Johnson is preferable to Paul on the issues, and he also praises Johnson’s record as governor of New Mexico. But he […]
Gary Johnson vs. Ron Paul
With Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels choosing not to run, there are now two libertarian-leaning presidential candidates in the GOP field for 2012: Ron Paul and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. Which is a better standard-bearer for libertarianism? I think it’s Johnson by a wide margin. He’s both more libertarian than Paul on the issues […]
Constitutional to Ban Corporate Contributions to Candidates (as Opposed to Independent Expenditures)
So holds Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, Inc. v. Swanson (8th Cir. decided today). (The decision was unanimous this point, though the panel split 2-1 on another matter.) I think this is the right result, even though I think Citizens United, which upheld corporations’ and unions’ right to engage in independent expenditures, is also right. […]
The Dead Are Registered, But Do They Vote?
A new report from Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted found that over 18,000 dead people are still registered to vote in the state. (The AP reports here.) The report is being given to local Boards of Election who are to investigate further and remove the deceased from the voter rolls. The report only looks […]
The Costs of Campaign Contribution Disclosure
James L. Huffman, former Dean of Lewis & Clark Law School and the 2010 Republican nominee for Senate from Oregon, has an op-ed in Monday’s WSJ explaining how his experience as a political candidate convinced him that mandatory disclosure of campaign contributions is a bad idea. The reality is that public disclosure serves the interests […]
Wisconsin election results
After some looking around, I’ve settled on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and @daveweigel to follow for tonight’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election results. With 17% of precincts reporting, Prosser and Kloppenburg each have 50%. Folks interested in Justice Prosser’s record on right to arms issues can find some information in my article, The Licensing of Concealed Handguns […]