August 11, 2026

Could Google predict the next “not Romney” candidate? Maybe…but what about Ron Paul?

Could Google predict who’s next in the “not-Romney” race for the nomination? Maybe, suggest political scientists. Says Erik Voeten at The Monkey Cage: One of the driving forces behind the creation of Google Insights was the observation that Google searches can predict flu epidemics more quickly than other types of observations. Shauna Reilly, Sean Richey, and Benjamin Taylor have a forthcoming article (nongated), […]

Hanover Economic Debate: A different debate, a similar result.

This debate was different. I tried and tried and tried to write a post about Bloomberg’s “Hanover Economic” Debate on Tuesday night, but just couldn’t do it. I started watching it late, from the beginning, and by the time I finished, even the pundits had packed up. The immediacy of the event had passed, and any […]

Could this foreshadow the 2012 GOP ticket?

The Placebo Effect: Is Bachmann a placebo?

If a placebo can increase or decrease pain just be convincing the placebo taker that this is the effect, is it possible that our country could use one?  Or maybe that’s what Bachmann is–ineffective as a legislator, but she makes people feel like she can make a difference, and that’s why she wins polls… That, […]

GOP Raw: An unabashed review of the Iowa Republican Debate

Tonight was the GOP Debate in Ames, Iowa. Hosted by Fox News, it was pure entertainment. Minnesotans Bachmann and Pawlenty returned tit for tat, Ron Paul waxed on about getting out of foreign wars, Gingrich whined about the press, Cain was questioned on his knowledge base, Huntsman distinguished himself as the moderate, and Romney walked […]

A graphical look at the 2012 GOP nomination

FiveThirtyEight, a New York Times blog run by Nate Silver, has an interesting graphic up describing the 2o12 race for the Republican nomination for President. (Don’t forget to vote in the poll at the left ) His data is based on how well the candidates are trading on Intrade. It’s an interesting graphic, and the analysis […]