I have some thoughts on the Electoral College. I hope you don’t mind the Twitter format! You can also see a single-page version here thanks to ThreadReaderApp. Actually, no. For example, in 2016 the minimum number of jurisdictions needed to reach Hillary Clinton’s popular majority was 39 states plus DC. But let’s get serious. Let’s […]
Entries Tagged as 'President'
The Electoral College: Origins, Consequences, and Flaws
January 27th, 2019, 11:14pm by Sam Wang
Tags: President · U.S. Institutions
The Authoritarian Checklist – John Brennan / Peter Strzok update, August 2018
August 15th, 2018, 3:35pm by Sam Wang
John Brennan’s public service: -CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia -CIA chief of staff -Director of Terrorist Threat Integration Center -Director of National Counter terrorism Center -White House Homeland Security Adviser -CIA director -Briefed three presidents — Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 15, 2018 I’ve left this topic alone for some time, but we must revisit […]
Tags: President · U.S. Institutions
Politics and Polls: Can Trump Actually Shut Down the Mueller Investigation?
March 22nd, 2018, 4:45pm by Sam Wang
As Trump hostility to Mueller’s investigation heats up, can he actually shut it down? On Politics And Polls, I talk to Fordham Law professor and Trump-investigation expert Jed Shugerman about fail-safes that Mueller may have put in place, and legal theories of the case. Listen to the new Politics & Polls! Oh, and in case […]
Tags: President · U.S. Institutions
Fall Football Lecture: Can Math Help Fix Bugs in Democracy?
November 11th, 2017, 12:14pm by Sam Wang
During college football season, the Princeton Alumni Association hosts fall lectures for people who come back to campus for the home games. This morning I gave the pregame lecture for the Yale game. My topic: can math help repair partisan gerrymandering and the Electoral College? Great audience, great questions. There is no video available. However, […]
Tags: President · Princeton · Redistricting · U.S. Institutions
Making Every Vote Count: Election reform and the National Popular Vote Compact
October 7th, 2017, 11:02am by Sam Wang
.@SamWangPhD was great. He calculates that 1/3 of future POTUS elections will put loser of popular vote in WH, giving 5 states huge power. https://t.co/A8c8h0bYKK — Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) October 7, 2017 This morning I was on CNN (watch it here) with Mike Smerconish to talk about replacing the Electoral College with a national popular […]
Tags: President · U.S. Institutions
Politics & Polls: Charlottesville and our broken public discourse
August 17th, 2017, 12:09pm by Sam Wang
The route between public outrage and consequences for President Trump seems quite broken. Why? Julian Zelizer and I chew it over in the new Politics & Polls. The opening is especially lively. Later we get into the regular nerdery.
Benjamin Wittes on Politics & Polls
July 13th, 2017, 4:52pm by Sam Wang
Benjamin Wittes of Lawfare joined Julian Zelizer and me today on Politics & Polls. He gave us an unsparing look at potential crimes & what the Trump-Russia scandal looks like to the national-security community. Listen: http://wws.princeton.edu/news-and-events/news/item/politics-polls-51-trump-russia-story-benjamin-wittes
Tags: President · Princeton · U.S. Institutions
Overcoming your own brain’s bias in the Comey/Trump case
June 7th, 2017, 6:21pm by Sam Wang
Our brains have powerful biases that help us maintain a coherent world view. However, sometimes those biases prevent us from integrating new evidence well. Today, the release of former FBI director James Comey provides an example. Most readers on the left and the right see it as powerful evidence that President Trump attempted to obstruct […]
Politics & Polls: Falling Toward Pavement
May 18th, 2017, 1:31pm by Sam Wang
Washington has been hit with a trifecta of catastrophic events in the past week: Trump fires FBI director Comey for investigating Russian collusion with the Trump campaign, then Trump tells secrets to the Russians in the Oval Office, then it emerges that Comey writes memos about all his conversations, including Trump trying to obstruct the […]
Tags: Politics · President · U.S. Institutions
Authoritarian Government Watch – Update
May 11th, 2017, 7:53pm by Sam Wang
Trump to NBC: "When I decided to [fire Comey], I said to myself, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story." — Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) May 11, 2017 On January 28th, I came up with 10 events that, if they happened, would constitute evidence of an authoritarian government. Now […]
Tags: President
