- BrendanNyhan Highly recommended @mattyglesias column on how economic downturns feed xenophobia and illiberal behavior http://j.mp/bUuG9YAnchor babies, the Ground Zero mosque and other scapegoats Politics always seems to get a bit off-kilter when the temperature goes up. But instead of the familiar silly-season stuff of years past -- made-up scandals and who-cares gossip -- the past two summers have been filled with vitriol. Last year we had town halls gone wild, fueled by the threat of...
- BrendanNyhan However, I doubt *increase* in birtherism that @mattyglesias suggests http://j.mp/bUuG9Y Different wording/response options in the 2 pollsAnchor babies, the Ground Zero mosque and other scapegoats Politics always seems to get a bit off-kilter when the temperature goes up. But instead of the familiar silly-season stuff of years past -- made-up scandals and who-cares gossip -- the past two summers have been filled with vitriol. Last year we had town halls gone wild, fueled by the threat of...
- BrendanNyhan Another offensive Washington Times op-ed graphic -- fetus being thrown into trash can with Obama logo http://j.mp/cTfaUk
- BrendanNyhan Bizarre William Shatner interview of Rush Limbaugh in adjoining modernist couches in front of a fireplace http://j.mp/9CbJv2
- BrendanNyhan Bogus meme alert: @mickeykaus parrots claim that Spain trip hurts Obama http://j.mp/bCDqyk In reality, unlikely to matter http://j.mp/cJPzxx
- BrendanNyhan Bizarre: NYT E. Africa reporter-turned-dance-critic says Kagame's "choppy dance moves" suggest he "is a bit of a geek" http://j.mp/cAwtmr
- BrendanNyhan How Newt Gingrich uses "the Fallacy of The They" to smear opponents of his Muslim-baiting demagoguery http://j.mp/c9KqkG (via @normative)
- BrendanNyhan Very cool - reader rep. for the Plain Dealer takes my research into account in discussing effects of new PolitiFact Ohio http://j.mp/cF7GKS
- BrendanNyhan Very interesting interview with Ira Glass about being wrong http://j.mp/b8txZFThe Wrong Stuff : On Air and On Error: This American Life's Ira Glass on Being Wrong Every episode of the radio show This American Life has, host Ira Glass suggests, "a crypto-theme." There's whatever the story appears to be about — the financial crisis , evangelical Christianity , cryogenics — and then there's what it's actually about.
- BrendanNyhan James Taranto predicts that Justice Kennedy will find in favor of repealing Prop. 8 http://j.mp/cugqhfScalia Was Right - WSJ.com James Taranto on why the same-sex marriage ruling will stand.
Judging from Brendan's tweets, "bizarre" is the hoity-toity academic version of "amazing" as seen on "The Bachelorette."
Posted by: Rob | August 09, 2010 at 11:51 AM
I do like the word, but the (unintended) repetition was largely a function of tweeting before coffee -- never a good idea.
Posted by: bnyhan | August 09, 2010 at 11:55 AM
As for the criticism of Michelle Obama's Spanish vacation, let it be noted that the trip was necessary to comfort a grieving friend. As Robert Gibbs pointed out, it was just a brief private trip. The presence of six White House advance staffers and the First Lady's Chief of Staff and personal assistant were obviously necessary so the private trip would be exquisito.
How much memes like the Michelle as Marie Antoinette meme hurt Obama is hard to judge. The economy and war/peace are certainly much more influential, but those factors still leave a significant amount of variability in the historic results unexplained (i.e., their R-squared is well short of 1). And some of that variability may well be due to the popular impression of a presidency that attaches.
As Brendan well knows, people tend to filter news through the prism of their existing attitudes. If people believed George Bush was dumb, or insufficiently thoughtful, or a cowboy, then most every bit of news was perceived as reinforcing those beliefs. Did this affect Bush's popularity ratings and his 2004 election results? Almost certainly yes, even though the amount may have been small. But sometimes elections turn on small differences in numbers, and any politician who doesn't worry about what memes he or she is fostering is potentially tossing away a percentage point or two that might prove to be critical.
Posted by: Rob | August 09, 2010 at 02:11 PM