MassPoliticsProfs

Before The GOP goes gonzo for Gomez as Gabrielle Gurley puts it in Commonwealth Magazine, they should read Jeff Jacoby’s realistic Sunday column in the Boston Globe. To Gomez’s refrain that he has always been a Republican, Jacoby writes: “He has yet to tell voters why — and why they should find that attractive.” But that is the problem here – Massachusetts voters do not find the Republican Party to be attractive, especially its national variant.

No one has studied Where the votes are in Boston longer or with more precision than Larry DiCara, so read his article in CommonWealth Magazine to prep for the mayoral race, with a field that may be larger than the entrants in the Kentucky Derby.

Check out themonkeycage.org this week for a symposium on campaign effects in the 2012 presidential election. There is a lot of talk among political scientists about how media and pundits overemphasize campaigns (TV ads, Elizabeth Warren’s hair or glasses) while ignoring data that really matter in politics. More on this and how to predict the Gomez-Markey outcome in Professor Cunningham’s post tomorrow.

President Obama should just knock heads and force those Republicans to do the right thing on gun control and other issues, right? That is the “West Wing” view of the world promoted by Maureen Dowd and others, but it has nothing to do with the real, limited powers of the president, writes Seth Masket at MischiefsofFaction.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times reported yesterday on an academic study finding that the Roberts Supreme Court is the most business-friendly Court since WWII. I know, you’re shocked.