Joyce Elliott, one of the two candidates who will face a runoff in June in the race to replace Rep. Vic Snyder, could in Arkansas become the first African-American ever to represent the state. When I was in Arkansas many I spoke to supported her but wondered whether she could win because racism is so […]
Monica Potts
Monica Potts is a former senior writer at The American Prospect. She is working on a book about low-income women in her rural Arkansas hometown. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, New York, Vogue.com, The Daily Beast, The Trace, and Democracy.
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Democratic Wins and Losses in PA.
After Arlen Specter‘s defeat in Pennsylvania last night, we’ll hear a lot about anti-incumbent sentiment, and, as Tim says, the rise of the Tea Party. Some of that is true. Voters are definitely frustrated, and even angry, with Washington. But those aren’t the only determining factors. Even the New York Times suggests that some of […]
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Blumenthal in Connecticut.
When Richard Blumenthal jumped into the U.S. Senate race after Chris Dodd decided he wouldn’t run for re-election, he seemed like a sure thing. It’s hard to overstate his popularity among voters. He’s been the attorney general since 1991, and he champions causes as big as security fraud and as small (and contentious) as chronic […]
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Haiti, International Adoption and The New Yorker.
Before commenting on John Seabrook‘s personal essay about adopting a child from Haiti, I just want to acknowledge that writing about adoption is difficult, and writing about one’s own adoption is, I imagine, even more so. That said, Seabrook’s overall message is pretty problematic. Seabrook’s tale starts before the January earthquake that inspired so many […]
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Arkansas: The Upside of Primary Challenges
Sen. Blanche Lincoln faces a challenger — and her constituents view the rush of outside money and attention as sullying the race.
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The Fuss Over Miss USA.
As Adam noted below, Miss USA crowned its first Arab-American, and first Muslim, Rima Fakih, last night. I never know what to say about these triumphs of diversity in arenas I otherwise find objectionable. There’s a diversity argument to be made about the win — Tyra Banks, who was the first black model to appear […]
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The Generation Gap in Abortion Support.
A new Gallup poll shows that young people’s support for abortion has fallen. Only about a quarter of people aged 18 to 29 support access to abortion for any reason and without restriction. Though that’s bigger than the number of older Americans who support abortion without caveat, the gap is narrowing. But more disturbingly, that […]
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The Integrated Plan for Children’s Health.
Remember Michelle Obama‘s initiative against childhood obesity? Well, it’s already doing real things. This week the task force President Obama created released a report on how to get childhood obesity down to five percent, from 20 percent, by 2030. The report includes specific recommendations in a a wide range of areas. For example, the report […]
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Keeping the Mentally Ill Out of Prison.
USA Today reports that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice have found that seriously mentally ill people are more likely to end up in jail or prison than in a treatment center. This is true across all states, but in some this was much more likely to happen. Arizona […]
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Food Politics in Arkansas.
I’m in Arkansas this week reporting on the Senate race, and there were two small news items about hunger in the state today. Wal-Mart, based in the north Arkansas town of Bentonville, announced this week that it would donate $2 billion in food and cash to end hunger nationwide. And on a more local level, […]
