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Quitters Never Win

1.  What was Mayor Pete's background before running for president? Mayor of South Bend, Indiana 2. What was the high point of Mayor Pete's campaign for president? He won the Iowa caucus and took second in the New Hampshire primary. 3. What progressive positions did he adopt in the early stages of this campaign? He endorsed abolishing the Electoral College, creating an automatic voter registration system, and making Puerto Rico and DC states. He was open to abolishing the filibuster and packing the SCOTUS with new justices. 4. When Buttigieg became more moderate, what two groups of voters did he struggle with? Blacks and leftists 5. Why did his campaign struggle after Iowa and New Hampshire? The next few states were more diverse, while Iowa and New Hampshire were majority white states. 6. What was Amy Klobuchar's background before running for president? She was a Hennepin County attorney who was elected to the Senate in 2006. 7. What was the high point of h...
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Heart and Soul of the Polls

1. Who made up the "universe" or polling population of this particular poll? The "universe" of this polls was likely Democratic caucus-goers. 2. If 25% of people say they are supporting Bernie Sanders and the sampling error is 4.8%, what is the actual range of Sanders's support? From 20.2% to 29.8%. 3. Using the margin of error, describe a possible scenario in which Sanders would not win, but still fits the polls data. Biden is stated to have 18% of the support. With 4.8% sampling error, this means he could have up to 22.8%. Sanders could have as low as 20.2%, and thus would lose in this scenario. 4. What were the results found in earlier polls taken in Nevada this year? An early January poll from Suffolk University/USA Today showed Biden leading with 19% compared to Sanders's 18%. Warren trailed the two at 10%. A Fox News poll taken at the same time showed Biden beating Sanders 23% to 17%, with Warren following at 12%. 5. What changes took p...
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Purge the Scourge

1.  What was Lt Colonol Alexander Vindman's job in the bureaucracy? He was a top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council. 2. What did Vindman testify during the impeachment investigation? He testified that, while listening in on Trump's call with Zelensky, he found the call inappropriate and that Trump should not have asked Ukraine to investigate Biden, a political opponent of Trump. 3. What did the White House do to Vindman and his brother? Vindman was removed from his post and detailed to the Defense Department; his brother was reassigned. 4. How is the White House justifying this action? The White House claimed this was just part of a larger shrinking of the National Security Counsel staff. 5. Why does the author argue that this creates a danger for other civil servants? Other officials are even more scared to testify against the president should he act inappropriately again. 6. What was Gordon Sondland's job in the Trump Administration? He was th...
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Primary Colors of the Rainbow

1.What's the difference between Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the primary calendar? Phase 1 contains only 4 states and few delegates, but is at the start of the race and thus influential to the narrative. Phase 2 is very short but contains more than half the delegates, and thus is more consequential. 2. Which four states get to vote first, separated roughly into one each week? Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina 3. There are few delegates available in these four states, why are the primaries so important? There are few other contests occurring at the time, so these primaries have a lot of national attention. Thus, they can give candidates an edge in future primaries, and they also illustrate who the true top competitors are. 4. How many delegates are available in Phase 2? More than 60% of the total pledged delegates. 5. Which regions are holding most of their primaries on Super Tuesday? South, New England, West, and Midwest 6. How many primaries are held the followi...
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A Stroll Through the Polls

1. The seven most recent polls they looked at measured opinion about last weekend (Those covering Jan 19 in the polling dates).  How many showed more support for removing Trump than opposition for removing Trump? All 7 found more support for removing Trump that opposition. 2. Which of these 7 polls found the most support for removing Trump? Which found the most opposition to removing Trump? The FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll found the most support for removing Trump (54%). The Monmouth poll found the most opposition to removing him (48%). 3. In FiveThirtyEight's polling average, what percentage of Democrats support removing Trump from office? What percentage of Republicans support removing Trump from office? 83.9% of Democrats support removing Trump from office. Only 8.4% of Republicans support removing him. 4. What difference did the most recent Monmouth University poll find in the people who say they support removing Trump from office and those who support the House impeachi...
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HOCUS POCUS SCOTUS

1. What issue is at the center of both the Trinity Lutheran and Espinoza cases? Can states refuse to subsidize religious education while supporting secular private education? 2. How does Justice Kagan argue that banning ALL funding to religious institutions would be ridiculous? We cannot refuse to give police and fire protection to religious institutions. 3. What choice do the plaintiffs argue that these bans force on students? Students are forced to choose between an institution which supports their beliefs and one that will give them thousands in aid. 4. According to the Census, what's the average amount that states spend on each public school student? $11,392 per year ​5. How did Chief Justice John Roberts explain the Court's decision in Trinity Lutheran? Denying funding due to religious identity penalizes those with that religion, thus violating the free exercise clause. 6. Because of the current makeup of the court, how do the authors predict that the Court...
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New Year's Present

1. Why was General Soleimani an important target for the airstrike? General Soleimani was a high ranking Iranain military official planning to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and the surrounding area. He and his forces have cause hundreds of Americans and allied casualties. 2. How did the Department of Defense (the Pentagon) justify this attack? The Pentagon claims Soleimani was an imminent threat to Americans and the strike was a defensive action intended to counter a potential attack. 3. How have Iran's leaders responded to the US attack? The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the president, Hassan Rouhani, vowed to take revenge on America, calling the Americans criminals. 4. How has President Trump responded to Iran's promises of "revenge"? Trump threatened to attack 52 Iranian sites important to Iran and Iranian culture if Iran takes revenge. 5. Why have some said that Trump's response would be considered a war cr...
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