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Taubman Center Survey: RI Voters Likely to Approve Casino Gambling

By Guest PostOctober 13, 2012Politicsabel collins, alfred taubman, angel taveras, Barack Obama, benjamin barrett hinckley, brown university, casino gaming, center, cicilline, congressional, david cicilline, district one, doherty, february, gender inclusive, independent candidate, jack reed, james langevin, lincoln chafee, mitt romney, newport, newport grand, policy, president, providence mayor, race, republican, rhode island, right direction, sheldon whitehouse, state operated, twin river, voter, whitehouse

A new Brown University poll of Rhode Island voters finds strong support for state-operated casino gaming at Twin River and Newport Grand. In the hotly contested Congressional District One race, Rep. David Cicilline retains a small lead. The survey, conducted Sept. 26 to Oct. 5 2012, is based on a sample of 496 registered voters in Rhode Island.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new public opinion survey by Brown University researchers finds that Rhode Island voters appear poised to approve questions one and two on the state ballot, which would allow casino gaming in Lincoln and Newport. Despite an approval rating of just 29.7 percent, Rep. David Cicilline appears to have an edge over Republican challenger Brendan Doherty among voters in 1st Congressional District.

Researchers at the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions and the John Hazen White Public Opinion Laboratory at Brown University surveyed a random sample of 496 Rhode Island voters from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5, 2012. The poll has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent. (more…)

Questions for Geoff Pullum: The ‘Grammar Gotcha’ and Political Speech

By Guest PostOctober 8, 2012Politics18th century, 19th century, 20th century, ad, american understanding, ann romney, attack, bad news, Barack Obama, blogger, brown university, bubble, bush speech, bushisms, candidate, chris christie, clint eastwood, contract, david orenstein, debate, edinburgh, egotism, english, geoff pullum, george bush, grammar gotcha, grammarian, language, language log, lindley murray, lingua franca, linguist, mark liberman, noreen malone, paul ryan, pearl harbor, pennslyvania, political speech, Politics, president roosevelt, presidential, psychological, publicity, reagan, republican, republican convention, rnc, robert lowth, scriptwriter, social, spontaneous speech, syntax, tampa, technical detail, technical knowledge, todd akin, tv, university, word choice

A long campaign season with genuine gaffes and alleged misstatements began its culmination with the first presidential debate. Like many citizens, linguist Geoff Pullum, a visiting professor at Brown, was watching.

Grammarian Geoff Pullum is the Gerard Visiting Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences at Brown University and professor of general linguistics at the University of Edinburgh. He is also a frequent blogger on language and politics on Language Log and Lingua Franca.

In a conversation with David Orenstein, he cited several specious analyses of word choice and syntax that have been used unfairly against candidates. The often ill-informed critiques stand in stark contrast to the way people are typically inclined to overcome the misstatements of others as they extract understanding from clumsy speech. Pullum will be listening closely to the presidential and vice presidential debates. (more…)

Among Voters Lacking Strong Party Preferences, Obama Faces 20 Percent Handicap Due to Race Bias

By Guest PostOctober 7, 2012Politicsamerican electorate, anthony greenwald, association test, Barack Obama, black, brian nosek, data, election, electorate, eligible voter, ethnicity, gender, implicit, kaiyuan xu, mitt romney, online study, polarized, political party, politically partisan, popular vote, preference, presidential candidate, race, race bias, racial attitude, sexuality, sianna ziegler, sriram natarajan, teri kirby, university, Washington, white

An online study of eligible voters around the country revealed that preferences for whites over blacks among the least politically-partisan voters are strong enough to have substantial impact on their presidential candidate preference.

Among these voters, race biases against Barack Obama could produce as much as a 20 percent gap in the popular vote in a contest that would otherwise be equal. (more…)

Obama, Romney supporters: R-E-S-P-E-C-T (just a little bit)

By Guest PostOctober 4, 2012PoliticsBarack Obama, Chicago, democrat, John McCain, marketing research, mccain voters, michigan, mitt romney, obama voter, oleg urminsky, political aisle, political season, president, presidential campaign, psychologists, republican, university, video game, yesim orhun

ANN ARBOR— It’s a common refrain during the political season—Republicans and Democrats talk past one another. They claim they live in different universes or come from different species, with little hope for extending empathy across the political aisle.

But University of Michigan researcher Yesim Orhun and her colleague Oleg Urminsky of the University of Chicago say that there exists a greater respect for one another’s views than is generally assumed. (more…)

Foreign Policy Takes Stage, Yet Most Voters Indifferent

By Guest PostOctober 1, 2012Politicsafghanistan, americans, Barack Obama, chaos, China, diplomatic approach, egypt, embassy, foreign policy, global issue, international security, iran, libya, matt zierler, michigan, middle east, mitt romney, nuclear power, presidential campaign, russia, state university, tension, united states, us troops, violence, war, world

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Foreign policy has taken center stage in the presidential campaign as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tout their differing plans – and take aim at one another’s vision for international security.

Unfortunately, voters pay little attention to these issues when electing a president, said Matt Zierler, associate professor of international relations at Michigan State University’s James Madison College.

“Foreign policy does matter, but voters traditionally don’t pay much attention to it,” Zierler said. (more…)

Your Body Doesn’t Lie: People Ignore Political Ads of Candidates They Oppose

By Guest PostSeptember 25, 2012Politics2008 campaign, Ads, alyssa morey, Barack Obama, bodily response, campaign ads, candidate, democratic rival, dynamic process, dynamical, feedback model, heart rate, jatin srivastava, John McCain, political information, presidential, republican, rival candidate, skin conductance, zheng wang

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A recent study examined people’s bodily responses while watching presidential campaign ads – and discovered another way that people avoid political information that challenges their beliefs.

In the last days of the 2008 campaign, researchers had people watch a variety of actual ads for Republican presidential candidate John McCain and his Democratic rival Barack Obama while the viewers’ heart rates, skin conductance and activation of facial muscles were monitored. (more…)

Analysis of Election Factors Points to Romney Win, University of Colorado Study Says

By Guest PostAugust 23, 2012Politicsanalysis, Barack Obama, colorado, democracy, democrat, Economy, election, electoral college, factor, florida, kenneth bickers, michael berry, minnesota, new hampshire, north Carolina, ohio, Pennsylvania, prediction model, republican, romney, trajectory, university of colorado, us president, virginia, White House, wisconsin

A University of Colorado analysis of state-by-state factors leading to the Electoral College selection of every U.S. president since 1980 forecasts that the 2012 winner will be Mitt Romney.

The key is the economy, say political science professors Kenneth Bickers of CU-Boulder and Michael Berry of CU Denver. Their prediction model stresses economic data from the 50 states and the District of Columbia, including both state and national unemployment figures as well as changes in real per capita income, among other factors.

“Based on our forecasting model, it becomes clear that the president is in electoral trouble,” said Bickers, also director of the CU in DC Internship Program. (more…)

‘Documents that Changed the World’: A podcast series from Joe Janes

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2012Culture, Media, Politicsaids quilt, andrew brink, Barack Obama, bayeux tapestry, bill of rights, birth certificate, british broadcasting corp, change, credit card, declaration of independence, documents, elastic, france, history, joe janes, john snow, magna carta, mickey mouse, mystery of cholera, phrase, physician, podcast, president, steamboat willie, storytelling, the jazz singer, unabomber manifesto, university of washington, websters dictionary, world

The phrase occurred to Joe Janes out of the blue one day and immediately appealed to him. From there, ideas began to flow quickly.

Janes, associate professor in the University of Washington Information School, had been a fan of the British Broadcasting Corp. radio series “A History of the World in 100 Objects” and thought those shows effectively blended history and storytelling.

He got to wondering, what if he took a similar approach to information, telling about the twists and turns of history — through documents? (more…)

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