This is a class blog for the students of POLSCI 421: Party Politics in America at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Lieberman, Lieberman, Lieberman

Ben Pershing:
The Senate is a strange place.... Lieberman is retaining his chairmanship because A) Democrats are now close to 60 votes and need to keep every single one; and B) the Senate is all about personal relationships, and a lot of Lieberman's colleagues still like him and are loyal to him on a personal level, despite what he did in the campaign. Of course, a lot of liberal Democrats think that's ridiculous, but the Senate sometimes seems to pride itself on ignoring public opinion.

President-Elect Starts Taking On Burdens of the Job

No time to wait?

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Challenged ballots: You be the judge

What is being argued next door.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Vast Obama network becomes a political football

"[I]t is no simple task to convert an insurgency into a standing army."

More on the transitions underway in both parties here: DNC chair faces $15M debt; fight for RNC boss.

On Howard Dean (DNC Chief Dean to Step Down):
Terence R. McAuliffe, who preceded Dean as chairman, praised the former Vermont governor's performance. "He handled it great," McAuliffe said. "He has done everything expected of the DNC chair. These are tough jobs."


On the GOP side: Can Newt Save the GOP?

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Election Reflections

Michael Munger, political scientist (and former co-chair of my dissertation committee), reflects on the challenges running for office as a third-party candidate.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Election myths and the mandate debate

My friend and co-author Brendan Nyhan has collected a number of posts from political scientists on the election results and the idea of an electoral mandate.

For South, a Waning Hold on Politics

More from the NY Times on regionalism and party politics.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

A New Day, a New Day in Court in Minnesota

Minnesota not done yet. Would Al Franken in the Senate be as funny as I secretly hope? Probably not.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

A Way Out of the Wilderness

Jeff Flake (R-AZ 6) on what comes next. A must read.

The next President of the United States

Great picture here. Wonderful blog btw.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Go Vote!

That is all.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Bob Barr on Third Parties

I caught a brief moment of Bob Barr (2008 Libertarian candidate for president) on CNN this morning. The host was asking him to explain why he was running. He revealed no illusions that he might win and claimed that he wanted to play the role of Ross Perot and influence policy debates.

CNN host: "So you call it [being] a spoiler?"

Barr: "No, we call it a public policy advocate."