Return of House presumably means finally swearing in member-elect Grijalva and opening the door the Epstein files when she signs the discharge petition punchbowl.news/article/hous...

Let’s put a cap on the use of “honestly,” “literally,” and “perfect” www.npr.org/2025/11/07/n...

Smooth move, Louvre abcnews.go.com/Internationa...

Terrific new research on US political parties being shared at the 2025 State of the Parties conference

An interesting combo of: (1) Trump’s unique appeal compared to rest of GOP, (2) inherent swinginess of the group, (3) different *kinds* of Hispanics who vote in state v. pres elections

Looking bake to Trump’s first term: in 2017 Dems also won gov races in NJ & VA by healthy margins, so yesterday is not unique. But Dems went on to a romp in the 2018 midterms

Mamdani getting more votes just on the Working Families line than Sliwa is getting in total

Folk wisdom is that women are the swing voters but tonight provides even more evidence that it’s men #Election2025

Kamala Harris arrived in Madison just as Dick Cheney was leaving news.wisc.edu/two-vice-pre...

This timeline could have been prevented by Trump condemning rather than enabling the Charlottesville mob & Proud Boys

A dozen ways US has shifted toward authoritarianism under Trump: (1/2): Curbing free speech Using gov against opponents Ignoring Congress Using military inappropriately Defying courts Faking emergencies Marginalizing groups Controlling media www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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I’ve taken 2 surveys in 2 days that are obvious message testing by 2026 Wisconsin candidates

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If you’re @uwmadison.bsky.social on Monday join me for a conversation and Q&A with new Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Susan Crawford union.wisc.edu/events-and-a...

Fall leaf 12

Can we persuade Tim Mellon to cover the coach buyouts instead of paying for a few minutes of military salary? www.nytimes.com/athletic/671...

Fall leaf 11 (maybe my favorite)

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With the Wisconsin Exchange, UW–Madison is strengthening a culture of civil dialogue across difference. This new initiative helps our campus community learn to engage, live and lead in a polarized world, turning constructive conversation into daily practice. More: news.wisc.edu/with-the-wis...

Fall leaf 7

Googling “Trump” and “DOJ” any day of the week invariably turns up something new that’s corrupt or authoritarian www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/u...

Fall leaf 6 (rainy day edition)

With its new PM, Japan pushes the share of EU and OECD countries that have had a woman leader over 80%. The US remains an outlier. www.oecd.org/en/publicati... www.cnn.com/2025/10/20/a...

Fall leaf 5 (swamp oak)

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Fall leaf 3 (poison ivy)

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If two autocrats are going to meet the gathering might as well be hosted by a third autocrat www.bbc.com/news/live/cy...

Fall leaf 1 (and timeline cleanse)

Only 3 states are represented by senators of opposing parties -- the lowest number of split delegations in the 100+ years that senators have been directly elected. Only way it goes lower next year is if Susan Collins loses and Dems hold all of their seats.

The 2024 @electionstudies.bsky.social has the share of "pure independents" in the US at its lowest level since 1952 (7%)

This is real, stupid, and the 113th most important and terrible action coming out of the administration

Why are federal troops not being deployed to Springfield to stop illegal immigrants from eating cats and dogs?

In other words, the GOP does not “need” Dem voters to pass a budget. They actually have votes to spare.

Non-trivial government shutdowns are rare under unified government. When a single party is in control, it can use the regular reconciliation process to enact a budget without any minority votes. www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Charlie Kirk had an unmistakable & lasting effect in galvanizing young conservatives, but he's actually fairly unpopular among young people

An open endorsement of hate - precisely what you do not want the President to do after an assassination when messages from leaders disavowing violence are especially important www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/u...

Unconstitutional, petty, and authoritarian behavior of the kind that led the colonists to declare their independence from the king www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

No administration in my lifetime has been this hostile to the free speech protections of the First Amendment

Thank goodness because we were told it was Antifa that attacked the Capitol on January 6

Kash Patel running the FBI, Trump suing the NYT, and RFK Jr trying to stop vaccinations can only mean that our government actually AI slop

My department @uwmadison.bsky.social is hiring an assistant professor with expertise in environmental politics. Send us your application. jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/assista...

Please let me know when you actually want to do something about gun violence directed at politicians and school children

Join us for the next installment in our Election Matters panel series on "Money, Politics, and the First Amendment." This event will explore the impacts of increasingly expensive elections and the tension between campaign finance regulation and free speech. Register here: go.wisc.edu/190re6

There’s also an accompany purge of competence, expertise, and independence in government and other institutions