NADER:GORE::DOBSON:GIULIANI.This, on James Dobson's vow never to support Rudy Giuliani, is why nominating him is still a big gamble for Republicans. The money wing of the party may like him; the security wing may like him, too. But for all the talk about how the GOP nominates the "next guy in line," the real precedent they would be breaking should they nominate Rudy is not starting the process by first shoring up their base before moving toward the general electorate.
ROUND FOUR FOR THE THIRD WAY. Now that the folks at Third Way have weighed in to defend their recent report claiming that whites, males, and the affluent (and I suppose, by extension, affluent white men) catapulted the Democrats to power in the 2006 midterms, let me respond, and also add a few things.
GUEST POST: THIRD WAY RESPONDS. As the authors of the Third Way election report Looking Red, Voting Blue, we write to respond to the criticisms of our report made by Tom Schaller and Mark Schmitt. (Ezra Klein also has attacked our report, but he offers nothing new.)
TWO, THREE, MANY GITMOS! I missed the GOP debate last night, though bymostaccounts what had been billed beforehand as a debate showcasing the candidates' differences on hot-button social and domestic issues in fact really came to life when the subject turned to chest-thumping war on terror stuff.
THIRD WAY OFF. Third Way has issued a new report (PDF) arguing that Democrats won in 2006 thanks to a surge in Democratic voting among white, higher-income, male and rural voters. Washingtonpost.com'sChris Cillizza's cited the report in his online column, The Fix, but with all due respect to Cillizza, some folks may need a refresher methods course to understand how Third Way's report uses statistics to create a pre-ordained outcome.
