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- It's important to understand that the policy issues that matter to "the public" are dependent on class. Social Security, for instance, is important to a lot of people occupying the mid to low ranks of income distribution, not those above it, which is why pampered journalists are always worried about the program's alleged "insolvency problem." Similarly, people with college degrees have not been affected by the recession as hard as those with only a high school diploma or less. And those college graduates also vote in higher numbers, unlike those with less of an education.
- Ordinarily, I wouldn't have expected First Read to point out that Mark Halperin's baseless pronouncements are total gibberish, but they seem to be on a roll today. Consider what would happen if all mainstream journalists took the lesson that correcting misinformation is as simple as looking at a decent poll? Or if they made a distinction between long-term electoral fundamentals and short-term tactical and strategic shifts? Frankly, that's a world that's difficult for me to envision.
- I stopped referring to the former governor of Alaska by name last year for an important reason: Aside from her core fan base, nobody should give a damn what she says or what she does. And now, esteemed New York Times columnist Charles Blow is here to tell us that it's the left's obsession with her that keeps her name in the papers. I'm glad he's here to give us such inspired, timely insight into politics. Almost a year ago, the rest of us were reading David Weigel's vastly superior blog post on this subject.
- Weekend Remainders: Tea Partiers are liking life in Washington just fine, thank you very much; centralized, government-run health-care systems demonstrably control costs in countries around the world, but conservatives refuse to believe it; the third rail of American politics is alive and well; partisan preference is still shaped by your first vote; Jim Inhofe reminds us that some conservatives sincerely believe in their own propaganda; and conservative explanations of Obama get more surreal, sci-fi.
--Mori Dinauer
