Monthly Archives: August 2016

Backstage at the DNC

By DocJess | Published August 5, 2016

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Russia and The Donald: What’s the Deal?

By DocJess | Published August 5, 2016

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Meet the Delegates: Joe Smallhoover – Democrats Abroad

By DocJess | Published August 4, 2016

Joe SmallhooverJoe Smallhoover is the Chair of Democrats Abroad France. We tried unsuccessfully to find some time together during the convention, but finally a mutually workable time a few days afterwards.

While he lives in Paris now, Joe was born in Pittsburgh and raised in Upper St. Clair, PA. He attended Washington and Jefferson College and Duke University. He holds an MA in Germanic languages from the University of Virginia and did advanced studies in Europe on a Fullbright, as an exchange teacher before returning to the US to obtain a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He has lived in Paris since 1985, and has practiced law in France, Belgium and Germany.

DocJess: Where did you get your interest in politics? Continue Reading...

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Setting the Table: Demographics and the Election

By tmess2 | Published August 2, 2016

Vote by JessPart of the ugly reality of politics is that there are multiple ways that people identify themselves — parental status, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, race, education.  In a more perfect world, some of these forms of self-identification would have no political meaning.  However, in today’s world, they still do.   One reason good pollsters reweight their samples by things like race and gender is because different races and genders tend to vote differently.

In light of this ugly fact, politicians trying to win election have three basic options for dealing with political demographics as they exist:  1) try to change what a demographic group thinks (persuasion); 2) try to increase turnout among groups that favor you (get out the vote); and 3) try to decrease turnout among groups that do not favor you (vote suppression).  The latter issue has been in the news again recently with several cases dealing with state voter ID laws, and that will be a topic for another post sometime within the next week.  This post is more about where the demographics stand now and what they might mean for the next three months of the campaign.

Continue Reading...

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A Note from your Doctor: Zika and Dengue

By DocJess | Published August 2, 2016

zika mosquitoWhile we’re less than a hundred days out from the election of our lifetimes, Rio will open on Friday night, and one of the considerations there will be Zika. OK, in addition to the crime, pollution, corruption and other dangers. But what about other places? Do we have a problem with mosquito-borne illnesses? Yes we do, and we need to protect ourselves and our kids.

Because I like you and try to avoid making your eyes glaze over, I’m going to skip the virology involving words like serotype, macrophages, Fc receptors and antibody-dependent enhancement. Bottom line: there are a number of different types of mosquitoes and many of them carry multiple diseases. Sometimes an infection with one disease makes infection from a second disease more pronounced. This is likely the case with Dengue intensifying the effects of  Zika. And don’t think Zika problems are limited to fetuses: Guilliane-Barre is another potential complication.

Remember that when you’re bitten by a mosquito, they take some blood from you while laying down potential infections. If a mosquito bites an infected person (Dengue, Zika, West Nile, Chikungunya, etc.) they will pass it on to the next victim she bites. (Only females suck blood.) Continue Reading...

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Messaging Economics: How to Win, How to Lose

By DocJess | Published August 1, 2016
Economy

(L – R) Felicia Wong, Joseph Stiglitz, Rana Foroohar, Stan Greenberg

While at the DNC, I attended an event hosted by the Roosevelt Institute, As they say on their site: “Inspired by the legacy of Franklin and Eleanor, the Roosevelt Institute reimagines America as it should be: a place where hard work is rewarded, everyone participates, and everyone enjoys a fair share of our collective prosperity. We believe that when the rules work against this vision, it’s our responsibility to recreate them.”

The panel discussion was between Joseph Stigliz and Stan Greenberg, moderated by Rana Foroohar. You can see their bios here.  The primary part of the discussion centered on looking at two economic messages put forth by Hillary Clinton and how the ideas polled relative to election outcomes. The two messages were not all that different, they just took two different approaches. Interestingly, one will win the election, and the other will lose. If one is implemented, it could potentially change the course of American economics.

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