Here’s a fascinating little bit of information I’ve always marveled at. It probably only has any resonance if you’re a history person. But here goes. Back when I was a little kid one of my best friends subscribed to the catalog of a dealer in historical documents. Even at our young age, I was surprised at how relatively cheap it was to buy say a Civil War era newspaper. Just a few dollars. Well within the means of even a kid. And by “few dollars” I don’t mean a rich person’s euphemism but maybe $5 or $10.
For, literally, a piece of history.
Yesterday I mentioned the Vox -538 war over 2016 presidential candidate popularity and who’s stealing each other’s charts. Today Sam Wang steps into the debate. And I think his take on what these numbers mean is the most on-target.
Yes, Hillary is much more popular than all the Republicans out there. And the Republicans as a group are either not popular or totally unknown. But the real stand out is that Jeb Bush is damaged goods.
Republicans are looking for Marco Rubio to break through with Hispanic voters. But as Stephen Nuno points out, Rubio is just as unpopular with Hispanic voters as most of the rest of the GOP candidates. And there’s little reason to think that’s going to change.
Dutch chimpanzee becomes hero of global left after destroying zoo drone.
The state of Idaho is risking $46 million in federal funding in its battle to prevent the imposition of Sharia Law in the state.
As long as his incipient presidential campaign has collapsed, it probably comes easier for Chris Christie to propose major cuts to Social Security. But it’s notable that his approach is quite different from what President Bush proposed in 2005.
TPM Reader JC brings us his experience on the battlefield of cake morality and reminds us of a key point. While anti-gay activists have done a decent job coopting the language of ‘religious liberty’ as a synonym for prejudice against gay people, Americans – even in fairly conservative states – overwhelmingly oppose laws which give the sanction of law this kind of bigotry.
Thank you for your recent post on the cake/flowers silliness. My major question here that no one in the media seems to ask these folks is–does giving someone a generic cake or flowers mean you endorse what they use the cake and flowers for? Generally a vendor sends all their cakes out without asking or worrying about the recipients daily morality.
What makes a gay couple’s morality so important to the cake maker’s trade that they now must say No? Why is the supposed “sin” of being gay or getting married as gay citizens suddenly consequential to the the cakes moral mission? Or why does the gay factor even give the cake a moral mission?
I suspect Rubio’s cave on immigration reform will eventually be his undoing – perhaps not because he bucked the base of his party but because he bucked them and then crumbled like an old house as soon as the going got tough.
Indiana hires international PR firm to repair state’s image after ‘religious liberty’ law debacle.
Nate Silver and Matt Yglesias are arguing about the significance of the relative approval ratings of Hillary Clinton and her potential Republican opponents and also about who’s stealing each others infographics.