Today at National Review, I wrote about the conservative case for Puerto Rican statehood.
Democrats
Jocks v. Nerds
StandardMy latest at The Federalist: like it or not, the American electorate almost always prefers jocks to nerds.
Backdoor Amendments
StandardThe National Popular Interstate Vote Compact is dishonest, unconstitutional, and just a bad idea: my latest at The Federalist.
High Taxes
StandardToday at The Federalist, I wrote about legalizing and taxing marijuana, and how the California legislature got so high they discovered the Laffer Curve.
Pardon me
StandardAt The Federalist, I wrote about the president’s power to pardon and why a Democrat’s proposed amendment is a good idea.
Leave the Senate Alone
StandardStop Trying To Make Reapportioning The Senate Happen. It’s Not Going To Happen. My latest at The Federalist.
Philadelphia Votes, Part 2
StandardAfter posting that map of Philadelphia’s presidential votes the other day, I wanted to see how much had changed since 2012. So I came up with this:
You’re still looking at a vast sea of blue, but the differences jump out at you. Clinton and Obama both won the city easily, but Obama won it much more thoroughly. Trump won wide swathes of the 45th ward where Obama had carried every single division four years earlier. Trump’s victories in the Northeast were also much deeper and widespread. Even in the dark blue areas of North and West Philly, we can see that Obama was the stronger candidate. Where Clinton had three divisions with 100% of the votes for her, Obama had twenty-seven. The pattern held throughout the area. Clinton didn’t lose much of Obama’s totals, just a handful of votes in each division. But it was enough.
Philadelphia votes
StandardThis year, at last, the dream of Republicans in Pennsylvania came true as our swing state finally swung. It wasn’t my dream for 2016, exactly, since I voted for Johnson, but for many who pushed back against the idea that the Commonwealth was a purely Democratic state at the Presidential level, it was gratifying. In fact, according to Nate Silver’s 538 website, Pennsylvania was the tipping point in electing Trump.
Over the weekend, I charted the precinct-level results in Philadelphia, the city Hillary thought would save the state for her. As most observers of the Philly political scene would have expected, Clinton was weakest in the Far Northeast. I was also surprised at Trump’s strength in South Philly and the river wards. Trump’s best division (we call precincts divisions here) was in South Philly, 39-14, where he tallied 70.3% of the vote (it’s the big one in the far south of the 39th ward). Clinton had three divisions in North Philly where the people chose her unanimously (29-07, 29-16, and 32-29,) which I’ve marked with asterisks on the map. There were also two ties, both in the Northeast (64-17 and 66-18).
Most of this is only of interest to my Pennsylvania readers, but I hope you all enjoy the map. You can click on it to zoom in, but the file is pretty big, so it may take a minute.
