Month: February 2020
Welcome to the Age of ‘Negative Partisanship’
“We are living in an era of what political scientists describe as ‘strong partisanship and weak parties’ — or, alternatively, as ‘negative partisanship.’ The electorate is polarized into opposing camps, but their emotional impetus is driven by hostility to the other party rather than trust in their own. … The Republican Party’s solution to this predicament has been to fashion itself as a cult of personality devoted to Donald Trump. The Democratic Party’s solution has been a series of technocratic fixes intended to increase its own legitimacy. But the Iowa caucus is the latest indication that the effort is collapsing.”
— Jonathan Chait
The S.O.B from South Bend
“Maybe it’s his calculated manner, or the way he waves at a crowd like an animatronic member of the British royal family, or his Midwestern aw-shucks niceness. But more than a year into his presidential campaign, despite all the attention paid to his candidacy, people still miss how aggressive Buttigieg is. … That’s what the victory-without-a-victory speech he gave last night was about.”
— The Atlantic
Done In by Digital
For Iowans it’s always been important to be first,
But last night Iowa’s caucus bubble was burst.
They’re good at milking cows
And growing corn and raising sows,
But at creating mobile phone applications, they’re the worst!
