WTF is the "Harvard-Harris Poll," anyway?

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Tuesday February 21, 2017 · 1:42 PM PST

2017/02/21 · 13:42

Screenshot_2017-02-21_14.58.13.png — My MS PowerPoint version of what a Harvard-Harris Poll logo might look like

I’m sure we’ve all been besieged by this barrage of information purporting to come from the “Harvard-Harris Poll.” Headlines like Poll: Americans overwhelmingly oppose sanctuary cities, and Poll reveals majority of Americans want Democrats to work with Trump, and Harvard Poll: Americans Brimming With Confidence on Jobs, Economy are drawing rapturous responses from the likes of Kellyanne Conway and Rush Limbaugh. According to one Hill article, “Harvard-Harris Poll is a collaboration of the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and the Harris Poll.” Its “co-director” appears to be Mark Penn, apparently of Hillary Clinton 2008 fame. The “Harvard-Harris Poll” offers a lot of slick graphics to go with its snazzy numbers, but lacks that most elementary of internet accoutrements: a website.

So I looked for information about the “Harvard-Harris Poll” on the Harvard Center for American Political Studies website. Not a peep about this epoch-making collaboration. The same is true of the Harris Poll website, which looks like it might have died last month. I also checked to see if the Hill itself had announced the rollout somewhere along the line, but no dice. The "Harvard-Harris Poll” came online with no fanfare and just spouting some seriously strange looking numbers. I can’t believe that a site of the Hill’s quality has been catfished. I know for a fact that Mark Penn exists. But I can’t escape the feeling that something hinky is going on here. Somebody please clue me in.

Another tragic GOP suicide in Missouri

gp39m

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Monday March 30, 2015 · 6:19 AM PDT

2015/03/30 · 06:19

Numerous sources confirm Spence Jackson, former spokesman for the late Missouri state auditor and GOP gubernatorial candidate Thomas Schweich, was found dead in his Jefferson City apartment on Sunday afternoon. The best place to start is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's article.

Unlike Tom Schweich, who was perceived as an outsider by the Sinquefield-Hanaway faction now controlling the Missouri Republican Party, Spence Jackson was a well known long-time party regular. In the early 2000s he was communications director for then-Missouri secretary of state Matt Blunt, and was also involved in Blunt's successful 2004 campaign for governor.

Can principled Missouri Republicans like Senator John Danforth take their party back from the Sinquefield-Hanaway axis? This is not "pass the popcorn" time. It's tragic and it's sick. I can't wait to retire and get the hell out of this shithole of a state.

Law School Applicant Requests Assistance on Ethical Question

gp39m

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Wednesday November 30, 2005 · 5:36 PM PST

2005/11/30 · 17:36

I put this in a diary (for only the fifth time in maybe 13 months) because I didn't want it lost in an open thread.

One of my graduating seniors came by to ask for a letter of recommendation for law school. I'm delighted to know this particular young man will be studying law; he's very bright and does excellent work when he is motivated. He's not sure what branch of the law he wishes to go into, but he is certain that he wants to be able to help others. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's a dyed in the wool left wing wacko just like all of us here. He plans to accomplish a great deal in his legal career, but he has to address a serious ethical question before applying. More on the flip. Read More

Prominent Ozarks Wingnut Goes Nucular on Bush

gp39m

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Tuesday October 11, 2005 · 4:02 PM PDT

2005/10/11 · 16:02

Welcome from beautiful Springfield, Missouri! Yeah, this is John Ashcroft's home town; Roy Blunt used to live here too and his son Boy Blunt still does (even though his official domicile is the Governor's Mansion in Jefferson City). As you might guess, our local newspaper's op-ed page features a fine selection of local right-wing tinfoil-hat Kool-Aid chuggers. One of my faves is a certain local emergency room doctor who believes (among other interesting things) that the so-called "Greatest Generation" in fact deserves to be excoriated for setting up the welfare state, which has bred poverty and all-around bad breeding.

But now the good doctor is mad as hell at Bush and he's not pulling any punches about it, either. A complimentary sample of his thoughts below the fold! Read More

Send Walker's, Bud, and Stoli (apologies to Warren Zevon)

gp39m

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Thursday October 06, 2005 · 8:45 PM PDT

2005/10/06 · 20:45

Warren Zevon left this life a little more than two years ago. It's a little bit difficult for me to mourn a man who constantly laughed at death, but the fact is that he is terribly missed. And in times like this, we could really use someone of his unique vision and talents to help us express our absolute disgust at what Bu$hco has been turning our beloved country into. I originally posted this squib in another diary, but I figure that Zevon is well worth a diary of his own.

Wherever you are these days, Warren, I hope ya forgive me for this one. Read More

NewsMax: Bush Senior Likes Bill Clinton

gp39m

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Monday September 19, 2005 · 7:21 PM PDT

2005/09/19 · 19:21

This from NewsMax, of all places!

Monday, Sept. 19, 2005 9:21 p.m. EDT
Bush 41: I Still Like Clinton
Thirty-six hours after ex-president Bill Clinton bashed and trashed his son on everything from his handling of the Hurricane Katrina crisis to the Iraq war, former president George H.W. Bush says he still likes Clinton. Appearing during commercial breaks on ABC's "Monday Night Football," the president's father was asked how he and Clinton managed to get along:
"I like him," Bush 41 said, despite the verbal thrashing Clinton administered to his son on ABC's "This Week" the day before.
Given two more opportunities to comment on his relationship with Clinton, Bush Sr. declined to say a single negative word about his successor. Mr. Clinton, on the other hand, demonstrated no such graciousness...

Of course, it wasn't Bush Senior whose successor ate birthday cake with John McCain in Arizona and played the Presidential geetar in San Diego while innocent people were left to drown and die of exposure on the Gulf Coast.
Read More

Missouri - Not as red as you might think

gp39m

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Wednesday November 03, 2004 · 5:18 PM PST

2004/11/03 · 17:18

Granted, Missouri went for Bush and went early. Roy Blunt and Tit Bond got re-elected, and Blunt's teenage son Matt the Wonderboy is going to be our next governor.

But we still have some bright blue spots in our apparently deep red state: Robin Carnahan, Claire McCaskill, Joe Maxwell, and Bekki Cook. Read More

WI update - trending Kerry!

gp39m

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Tuesday November 02, 2004 · 9:17 PM PST

2004/11/02 · 21:17

My first diary... I waited long enough, I guess. Please be gentle...

But Wisconsin is finally starting to come around for Kerry! As of 11:15 Central, Kerry is ahead by 1%, or 9,000 votes with 53% of the precincts reporting.

The big counties, Milwaukee and Dane, still have a lot of votes to be counted, and could very well put us over the top. I moved out of Wisconsin for good in 1982 but I feel pretty damn good about what's happening in my old home state. Read More

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