Dana Goldstein

Fun facts from the data hub at Compete, an analytics firm. If website traffic equaled votes, Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee. And the next president. When interest in the 2008 race is measured by per capita visits to political blogs and candidates’ websites, New Hampshire ranks as the most politically engaged state in […]

So far the Nevada caucus — scheduled for Jan. 19 — has been the forgotten early primary, even though it’ll take place a week before the South Carolina vote. But watch for Nevada to come into its own after the whirlwind of Iowa and New Hampshire dies down. On the Democratic side, Nevada is all […]

The Politico scores 40 minutes with the reclusive Prince of Darkness, and he does not disappoint. The article opens with Cheney dissing senior Democratic congressmen John Murtha and John Dingell for not being men enough to stand up to Nancy Pelosi. He assumes they disagree with her leadership. “I’m trying to think how to say […]

The days of “ The days of “Plants for Hillary” are over. CW now says: John Edwards will be playing nice through Jan. 3, reverting to the “sunny optimist” persona, aka the “positive populist.” Edwards is the one who opened the floodgates for gloves-off (though not personal) attacks against Hillary Clinton. Now, with Clinton and […]

No, this isn’t about the Clintons, it’s about circumcision, another one of Sully‘s pet peeves. A new study from the CDC confirms the suspicions of the American HIV/AIDS and gay rights activists I reported on last year: Here in the U.S., being circumcised doesn’t appear to lower black and Hispanic gay men’s risk of contracting […]

Todd Gitlin highlights a point Garance made months ago: The Republican field all say “life begins at conception.” So it’s time to start asking them — especially the surging Baptist minister — whether they think hormonal birth control should be legal. The pill, in some cases, prevents implantation of a fertilized egg, not fertilization itself. […]

That’s the verdict of a new Brookings Institution study that ranks the most walkable American cities in a counterintutive way: Instead of counting the number of daily chores or recreational activities a person can complete in their neighborhood without the use of a car (as other surveys have done), this study counts the number of […]

That’s what the New York Times suggests this morning in a piece the Clinton campaign is already rebutting: “The story quotes not a single Democrat – not even on background. Republicans are the only people quoted!” That’s not exactly true — the Times does quote Rep. Nancy Boyda, the first term Kansas Democrat who Republicans […]

The The Clinton campaign attacked Barack Obama this weekend for mobilizing Iowa college students who hail from out of state to return to campuses to caucus on Jan. 3. Politico‘s Ben Smith has the story. This is pretty gross. Democrats should support the rights of young people to vote where they live the majority of […]

Yesterday’s Yesterday’s New York Times featured a story on Barack Obama‘s explicit attempt to convince women voters that feminist goals aren’t necessarily best served by a female politician. I think most feminists are open to this argument — as long as male politicians rely upon policy proposals, not personality, to make the case. Unfortunately, the […]