The New Republic

As Brendan Nyhan notes, one of the great journalistic tropes is demanding that public figures use stronger adjectives to describe their position. It's an odd mission. Here's Jake Tapper interviewing Jay Carney: READ MORE >>

Brendan Nyhan acknowledges that the budget deal was shockingly tilted toward GOP priorities. His explanation is that politicians overreact to the effects of wave elections: READ MORE >>

Mark Penn thinks President Obama can beat the odds and win reelection if he follows Mark Penn's advice: READ MORE >>

Brendan Nyhan cautions everyone today to pay little attention to the straw poll results at CPAC or to early horse race polling for the GOP presidential nomination: At this point in the election cycle, the preferences that matter are those of the activists, elected officials, donors, and party elites who take part in the so-called “invisible primary.” Media hype of public opinion surveys and straw polls only serves to obscure where the meaningful action is taking place. READ MORE >>

Good point by Brendan Nyhan: People have been having a hard time holding two ideas in their head at the same time: 1. What Paul Krugman calls "eliminationist rhetoric" is bad. READ MORE >>

Why is Obama giving Republicans an extension of upper income tax cuts when polls show Americans overwhelmingly oppose them? Maybe because those polls don't translate into leverage on Capitol Hill. Political scientist and blogger Brendan Nyhan makes the case: READ MORE >>

Brendan Nyhan finds that vulnerable House Democrats who voted against the main Democratic agenda items did better, controlling for circumstances, than those who voted for it: READ MORE >>

-- John Judis fears a new "lost generation" in America. -- Brendan Nyhan's take on the midterms. -- This American Prospect article from June explains how Harry Reid won. READ MORE >>

There are two types of explanations for what happens in elections. One is an honest attempt to figure out exactly why elections turned out as they did. For those, there’s no need to rush to judgment. I’ll refer you to Brendan Nyhan’s quick analysis, but with all due respect to Brendan, we’re going to learn more as we go forward. READ MORE >>

Brendan Nyhan previews the vapid post-election analysis to come: READ MORE >>