Mori Dinauer

It’s quite amazing, as Chait says, that anyone would pay Mark Penn huge sums of money for his political advice. The man clearly understands absolutely nothing about either public opinion or the nature of political institutions. But hey, let’s let him write an opinion piece for the Post where he can make the incredibly original […]

I don’t think the conservative movement is quite ready to accept Kevin Williamson‘s article in National Review that challenges the wisdom of supply-side economics. The only response to the piece at The Corner was from Veronique de Rugy, who offers the libertarian endorsement; otherwise, silence (this doesn’t count). Regardless of how this fits into the […]

This Pew poll that measures the public’s reaction to terms like “socialism” and “capitalism” reads like the results of a political focus group. Irrespective of how the public defines these terms, politicians can talk about “family values,” confident that 89 percent will get a warm fuzzy, or that “militias” aren’t terribly popular. And while “states’ […]

John Sides has seven questions for political reporters who are covering the 2010 midterms. In response, Jonathan Bernstein asks how this works down the slate, particularly the districts across the country with Republican primary challenges. The implication of Sides’ and Berstein’s questions is that reporters are going to have to get to know some of […]

There’s a shared conceit among the business class and the wealthy who wish to enter politics that they bring some sort of independent, means-tested credibility to the field based on the fact that they’ve been successful in the private sector. Take “fed up” billionaire Jeff Greene, who is jumping into the Florida Senate race because […]

Let’s pretend for a moment that we don’t live in a world where every time there is a Supreme Court vacancy to be filled we are subjected to a chorus of voices soberly suggesting that the president’s nominee must meet an inhuman standard of neutrality and be dedicated to limiting their decision-making to strict interpretation […]

What’s the Matter With Arizona Roundup: Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano suggest the new immigration law could be challenged by the federal government; J.D. Hayworth wants more draconian and broadly applied birther legislation; an Arizona sheriff points out the obvious, may refuse to enforce immigration law; everybody hates John McCain; and according to leading right-wing […]

I’m glad there’s been a swift and dedicated push back on the incredibly shameless efforts by the RNC to continue sending out “census” forms designed to confuse and loot their would-be constituents, even after the practice was specifically banned by Congress. And while congressional Republicans are to be lauded for taking the lead on this, […]

Conservatives and libertarians get mighty upset when people mention the underlying militancy of the Tea Partiers, swiftly shifting to a studied criticism of the radicalism of the left. So my question is, when prominent Republicans like Texas Gov. Rick Perry refer to Tea Partiers as an “army” that could “take back their country,” or the […]

Surveying the evidence that conservative ideological self-identification correlates with wealth, I’m tempted to revisit a pet theory: Some of the very wealthy are looking for an explanation for their good fortune, and the one with the most compelling explanatory power is the conservative brand of bootstrap meritocracy. Now this is ideological self-identification, so what respondents […]