Since entering the 2020 Democratic presidential contest in April, Joe Biden has remained the front-runner — despite gaffes, attacks from the president and fellow Democrats, Republicans’ charges of unethical behavior and questions about his health. While other candidates’ poll ratings wax and wane, Biden’s have been remarkably stable. Many observers […] Read more »
Why Trump isn’t getting credit from voters for good economic news
In the past two weeks, good economic news has buoyed the Trump administration, providing a welcome distraction from his impeachment. Job growth in November exceeded expectations — 266,000 new jobs, unemployment down to 3.5 percent — prompting immediate speculation by commentators about the implications for President Trump’s reelection. Although not […] Read more »
The Right Frame: Did broadcasters show ‘systemic bias’ by focusing on seats?
Writing at LSE Blogs, Prof Pippa Norris (Harvard) and Prof Patrick Dunleavy (LSE) say the BBC coverage — based on the broadcasters’ exit poll — established “a dominant narrative…with no counter-notes of any kind”. The article’s central claim that vote share information only came after 5am is likely to be […] Read more »
The Exit Poll, BBC Election Night and systemic media bias
The main lines of British political culture over the next four and a half years were constituted by the election of 12 December, and especially by how the broadcasters, especially the BBC, represented the results overnight. … The centrepiece of election night programming across all broadcast channels was the single […] Read more »
When local newspapers suffer, so do local elections
Residents of American cities and towns have long looked to local newspapers for reliable information on the activities and electoral politics of their local governments. In the past decade though, newsrooms have slashed their staffing levels, and many newspapers folded altogether. As city newspapers shrank, it appears there were serious […] Read more »
White evangelicals fear atheists and Democrats would strip away their rights. Why?
As the House has moved through the impeachment of President Trump, voices on the extreme right have been arguing that it’s the first shot in a coming “civil war.” According to conservative evangelical conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles, “The Democrats are forcing me to stockpile ammunition, food, water, and medical supplies […] Read more »