tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post1097243040378952293..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Electoral Effects of the...Oh, C'mon, People, Really?Jonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-88962234534088437132013-11-14T14:13:23.898-06:002013-11-14T14:13:23.898-06:00There might be a competitive advantage for pols, b...There might be a competitive advantage for pols, but the incentives for the people who work for them differ. Yes you want your boss to get re-elected and to maintain good polling numbers, but what you want most is to keep your job and/or get a better one. Going against the conventional wisdom is professionally risky, and if it means the redirecting of resources, then it implies people losing their jobs. So there is significant pressure against change, even if it might yield a higher expected value for the politicians. Drewnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-5263375959155376312013-11-14T13:14:03.293-06:002013-11-14T13:14:03.293-06:00Agree -- that's what I said in the shutdown po...Agree -- that's what I said in the shutdown post linked above. That's a (potentially) real effect that could matter.Jonathan Bernsteinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-71692155376000827632013-11-14T12:52:26.861-06:002013-11-14T12:52:26.861-06:00Dem worries are probably the result of taking cons...Dem worries are probably the result of taking conservative concern trolling too seriously, which is probably a result of liberals' deep and mistaken intuition that most people just want to get along.purushanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-58780970987134211182013-11-14T12:27:38.648-06:002013-11-14T12:27:38.648-06:00I can't find it online, but Sarah Vowell once ...I can't find it online, but Sarah Vowell once remarked that she loved Swedish detective novels because after visiting a murder scene, the detectives would stand around the police station drinking coffee and discussing in hushed tones whether democracy was even possible.<br /><br />The panic over healthcare.gov is the same thing -- Democrats worrying that if the web site is not fixed by Thanksgiving, the welfare state is inevitably doomed to collapse. Everyone needs to relax.alkalihttp://www.disqus.com/alkalinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-63972289425006486652013-11-14T12:21:01.643-06:002013-11-14T12:21:01.643-06:00The panic in the Democratic party is so predictabl... The panic in the Democratic party is so predictable and the media's interest in a side show is pretty well documented. FREAK OUT!!!!!Jamie Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08579007138576584958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-25695665807141827072013-11-14T11:47:02.500-06:002013-11-14T11:47:02.500-06:00Isn't this all-too-typical panic irrational? I...Isn't this all-too-typical panic irrational? I think that it is. But I wonder if the politicos in Washington know this. Couldn't there be some competitive advantage to following the insights of political scientists and breaking out of the cycle of repeated over-reactions to the daily news cycle? Politicians put an enormous amount of resources into managing the news cycle. It seems to me that those resources could be put to better use.jonmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04255054764317307824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-61567568849597782812013-11-14T11:44:54.627-06:002013-11-14T11:44:54.627-06:00Even short-term panics about a party's prospec...Even short-term panics about a party's prospects can have long-term effects--especially when the panics are before the filing deadlines for candidates. For example, the "the shutdown dooms the GOP" narrative probably encouraged some strong Democrats to run in some races and the "Obamacare dooms the Democrats" narrative may have the same effect on potential GOP candidates.David Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09260587086663631888noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-41257847771677621922013-11-14T10:24:17.154-06:002013-11-14T10:24:17.154-06:00Chuckle. I think, to be fair, the best example is...Chuckle. I think, to be fair, the best example is not Chait, but Ezra Klein. Scarcely a day goes by without another hair-on-fire story from that quarter. Now, granted, he is talking about policy, not politics, and there are indeed extreme problems with policy implementation around the ACA, and of course ongoing controversy about the policy itself. Still, it is all somewhat shrill and hysterical. Usually I have to remind myself that Ezra is, after all, very young.Anastasiosnoreply@blogger.com