The Topline: We’ve got a podcast!
We’re pleased to announce the launch of “The Horse Race”, a new podcast hosted by MPG President Steve Koczela and Politico’s Lauren Dezenski. As the name suggests, we’ll be focusing on campaigns and elections, particularly here in Massachusetts. We’ll also look at how developments in Washington could impact politics in the Bay State. We’re two episodes in, so click below to get up to speed:
Episode 1: We previewed the Boston mayoral preliminary election and discussed the early entrants to the Third Congressional District. We also looked at the Republican challengers to Elizabeth Warren in 2018 and Charlie Baker’s lobbying against the Republican health care plan.
Episode 2: Our inaugural guest Gin Dumcius, who literally wrote the book on the 2013 Boston Mayoral election, joins us to recap the Boston preliminary race. Then, Steve and Lauren discuss the mayoral elections in Framingham and Lawrence, a surprisingly close City Council race in Boston, and how Amazon and Puerto Rico could rile #mapoli. Finally, the first edition of Horse Race trivia!
New episodes will be released on Friday mornings and can be found on iTunes or SoundCloud.
MPG ICYMI
In Steve’s first-ever piece as a CNN contributor, he looked at the “Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity", aka, the voter fraud commission, on the eve of its meeting in New Hampshire.
In an associated piece for CommonWealth Magazine, we dive into the response of Massachusetts party officials who are baffled by the commission’s fraud claims.
The Crosstabs
Boston went to the polls this week, and the results surprised nobody. Mayor Marty Walsh finished far ahead of his three challengers, piling up a 24-point margin over the second place finisher, Boston City Councillor Tito Jackson. Walsh and Jackson advance to the final election November 7.
The Boston Globe takes a look at Governor Charlie Baker’s persistent popularity, drawing familiar conclusions.
The FiveThirtyEight tracker finds an average of 39 percent approve of President Trump’s job performance, 55 percent disapprove.
Republicans continue to search for palatable alternatives to replacing Obamacare, and voters continue to frown on them. Quinnipiac finds the latest proposal draws 19 percent support, and just 11 percent approve of way Republicans are handling the issue.
The national debate over healthcare is mostly focused on GOP plans, but the issue of single-payer is waiting in the wings. A new Politico/Morning consult poll finds that among Democrats more support the concept than oppose it.
A new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds most voters see NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem as a protect directed either at police violence (48 percent) or Trump himself (40 percent), far more than those who think they are protesting the flag itself (12 percent).
In the wake of hurricane devastation in Puerto Rico, a new Morning Consult/NYT poll finds that only 54 percent of Americans know that Puerto Ricans are American citizens. And knowledge of citizenship status was associated with approval of aid. Eight in 10 Americans who are aware of the citizen status support aid, compared to only 4 out of 10 of those who are unaware.
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As is his wont, MPG Research Director Rich Parr has made beautifully detailed maps of the Boston Mayor’s Race. Click through for the interactive versions to see how your neighborhood voted. Or, in the case of Allston, didn’t vote. We’re looking at you, BU students on the “Isthmus of Apathy” between the Charles River and Brookline, where a whopping 12 votes were cast, for barely 1 percent turnout.
