It's never too late to plan for 2018. Download this Excel spreadsheet that calculates what you need to win per precinct based on 2014 performance. If you didn't run for office, pick a candidate in a similar race and whose performance you except to match, e.g., if you're running for County Commission, pick a candidate […]

During recent debates I've been somewhat disturbed how some of my fellow conservatives sometimes focus on making sure everyone feels pain. Particularly, when it comes to government worker benefits, social safety nets, etc, the mantra goes something like, "the private sector is hurting - everyone needs to hurt." I recall making a comment once that, […]

This is why when working with clients I focus on content and search engine optimization. While Google can't be gamed, at the risk of exclusion, it can go a long way in making sure what you want is at the top - which means meaningful content that is frequently updated, read, and shared across social […]

Politico: One key finding that “Predisposed” will highlight: conservatives and liberals respond differently when presented with extremely pleasant images—like people skiing, fruit baskets and sunsets—and disturbing pictures, like fires, vomit and rodents. Study participants, after answering an extensive battery of questions about their political beliefs, were hooked up to sensors that test skin conductance—the measure of […]

A "duh" statement, if not because the demographics of our country are changing and we must be as inclusive as possible, while not selling our soul. ...Republican pollster Whit Ayres warned his party’s conservative base that it must push candidates and campaigns to “reach out aggressively” to Hispanic voters. “Don’t you think that a group […]

I've often felt that on the conservative side there is much deference to leaders, from whom the grassroots sometimes takes its cue when there is doubt on an issue. The Frum Forum: Two Rutgers professors "discover" the powerful influence of elites on party opinion: [W]hile we find no evidence that the conservative advocacy frames alone […]

For all the talk of the US having a progressive tax code, I came across this at the Washington Post's WonkBlog. Essentially, each tax bracket's share of tax is fairly equal to their share of income. And while we're still progressive in terms of taxes, we're not as regressive (thankfully) as European countries that rely […]

[amazon_enhanced asin="0679746498" container="div" container_class="right" price="All" background_color="FFFFFF" link_color="000000" text_color="0000FF" /] It's a little tongue-in-cheek, but is actually very much on-point - on some points. Looking at some of the biggest sex scandals of the last decade or so, we have tried to parse the factors that allow some pols to skate by and others to live out […]

Via the Cloakroom: While a wide majority of Americans look at Congress with disdain, sometimes it’s important to look at the context. Our lawmakers were elected by voters after all, who according to a new Public Policy Polling survey released this week, don’t always see the world very clearly. A sampling of the more alarming results: 6% […]

Some candidates are intimidated by the prospect of calculating their vote goals for their race. It is a necessary task so that candidates are not blindly going into precincts that don’t contribute much to vote totals or aren't that important. Or, worse, talking to all voters since we know not all registered voters actually vote. To help […]