The mob comes for a professor who had the temerity to be a libertarian. I wrote it up for Broad + Liberty.
philadelphia
Three Pennsylvania Stories
StandardI wrote three articles last week with a local angle:
- Pennsylvania’s state workers’ pensions are a mess, like most of the nation’s, and we need to fix it before it blows up in our faces. (Broad + Liberty)
- Philadelphia’s inept and corrupt vaccine effort is a national disgrace (The Federalist)
- Kathy Boockvar’s ineptitude costs Pennsylvania sex abuse victims a chance at justice in the courts. (Broad + Liberty)
Post-Election Articles
StandardA couple of new pieces up this week:
- At Broad + Liberty, I analyzed the growth in Trump’s vote in Philadelphia and what it means for future Republicans candidates there.
- At The Federalist, I discussed what Andrew Jackson’s supporters did after losing the 1824 election, and what Trump’s might do now.
Philadelphia Turns Back to the Bad Old Days
StandardMy latest column at Broad + Liberty is about the homeless encampment on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, and how it represents a return to the city’s unsafe, lawless past.
Councilmanic Prerogative
StandardUnchecked prerogatives are at odds with the American theory of governance. I wrote about City Council members’ unchecked power over Philadelphia zoning decisions and the corruption it breeds, today at Broad + Liberty.
Philadelphia Votes, 2019
StandardPhiladelphia re-elected its mayor, Jim Kenney, last week. As usual, the Democrat won resoundingly, though his share of the vote dropped from 85% to 80% since 2015. As this map shows, the losses were mainly in Northeast and South Philly
In the City Council races, the big news was the election of an at-large member from the Working Families Party, a socialist faction that was contesting the Philly elections for the first time. Candidate Kendra Brooks took one of the two at-large seats reserved for the non-majority party, both of which had been held by Republicans since they were created in 1951.
This map shows the relative strength between the Republicans and the WFP. The radicals were strongest in the gentrifying areas surrounding Center City, but also showed some strength in parts of North and West Philly.
The scale here is by percentage points, not a percentage of the total GOP+WFP vote. In many of these divisions, that means the difference between 1% and 2%.
Wheels on the Bus
StandardWhat kind of busing did Joe Biden oppose? What kind does Kamala Harris favor? I discussed the past (and possible future) of school busing today 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.
