Barry Burden

New article: "Path to the Polls: A Study of How Poll Workers Become Poll Workers" by Matt Lamb, Bob Stein, & me in APR shows that veteran poll workers are recruited by different pathways than new recruits. News you can use for election officials. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Trump calls for U.S. census to exclude for the first time people with no legal status Trump is calling for a "new" census that excludes people in the U.S. without legal status. The 14th Amendment requires the "whole number of persons in each state" in a key set of census results.

A quickie census won’t be accurate and probably won’t be constitutional www.npr.org/2025/08/07/n...

ICYMI: new edition of the classic text on political parties is now available for beach reading and fall classes

As mid-decade redistricting wars heat up, keep in mind that in some states with early 2026 primaries, candidates need to file for office just a few months from now www.ncsl.org/elections-an...

Just this week:

Random tariff rates announced again

Firing BLS director over bad jobs numbers

Trump removed from Smithsonian exhibit on impeachment

CPB announces its demise

Ghislaine Maxwell moved to minimum security

President exempted from proposed ban on stock trading

New Texas congressional map will create five districts Trump carried by double digits The map could become public as soon as Wednesday afternoon.

Note that a gain of 5 GOP seats also means a loss of 5 Dem seats = net swing of TEN seats www.politico.com/news/2025/07...

Faculty Support of George Mason’s President Draws Federal Investigation

Administration demanding emails and drafts of a faculty resolution? Petty. Undemocratic. Probably illegal. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...

I asked ChatGPT to write a review of the paper. It came out bland & flattering but generally correct. Seems fine if you don’t want or are unable to be more discerning.

Got my first manuscript to review where the author disclosed using AI (to assist with writing).

Anything Trump can do to get Epstein out of the headlines

The amazing legacy of my friend and coauthor Bob Stein who we lost today news.rice.edu/news/2025/ri...

Bondi says Epstein client list 'sitting on my desk right now,' and is reviewing JFK, MLK files U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told 'America Reports' host John Roberts that she is reviewing the Jeffrey Epstein list, which is "sitting on my desk right now," along with the JFK and MLK files.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Jeffrey Epstein client list is "sitting on my desk right now" www.foxnews.com/politics/bon...

Coldplay concert 'kiss cam' moment goes viral when Chris Martin jokes about an affair A man and woman at a Coldplay concert in Boston ducked when shown on the Jumbotron.

All eyes on next Coldplay show in Madison tomorrow night abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/...

Misleading NYT clickbait featuring the giant basket next to my elementary school. The building is in disrepair & not open to the public. Have fun driving by on route 16!

October 1999: Trump officially joins Reform Party www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/...

His money makes this formidable because it solves common minor party hurdles of ballot access, legal battles, & advertising

The party might pull off victories in a a few districts but GOP unity on the big bill says it’s not much of a wedge

The party will not represent anything like “the middle”

A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

4/4

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

3/4

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

2/4

From our Declaration:

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

1/4

Paramount to Pay Trump $16 Million to Settle ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

Embarrassing capitulation to leader www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/b...

Budget deal would put $1.2 billion into education, child care, cut taxes $1.5 billion Dem Gov. Tony Evers and legislative leaders announced they have reached an agreement to pump an additional $1.2 billion into K-12 education, child care and the UW System. The deal also includes a $1.5...

I’ve been saying the state budget surplus is big enough to support both GOP tax cuts & Dem spending on health & education.

Did narrowing of GOP majorities under the new districts lead to a more cooperative budget process this time?

www.wispolitics.com/2025/budget-...

I'm not so sure non-voters would be just as supportive of Trump. Non-voters have less firm preferences & may fall prone to jumping on the bandwagon in post-election surveys.

The practical question is whether somewhat higher turnout rather than 100% turnout would help or hurt Trump. 2/2

Behind Trump’s 2024 Victory, a More Racially and Ethnically Diverse Voter Coalition Pew Research Center’s in-depth study of its survey respondents who voted in the 2024 election examines turnout, voting patterns and demographics.

So many valuable insights in Pew's review of the presidential election.

No doubt that Trump's coalition has grown more racially & ethnically diverse.

(But is it true for other GOP candidates?)

1/2

www.pewresearch.org/politics/202...

So interesting that Republicans would change course during the Biden admin. Not just thermostatic because it didn’t happen under Obama. @gallup.com

Major media outlets agree on the number of takeaways

Wisconsin Assembly and Senate have been on different pages for years despite single party control

Maybe the difficulty of polling RCV elections is a feature not a bug. The actual voters ultimately decide.

We should probably be thinking about the One Big Beautiful Bill in relative rather than absolute dollars.

As a share of GDP, deficits have only increased marginally over time, but debt has risen sharply.

Expert analysis says the bill is going to make both lines worse.

It’s an honor to be coauthor w Marjorie Hershey of the 19th edition of Party Politics in America.

I was assigned this text as a college student when the coauthors were Sorauf & Beck.

Updated through the 2024 election. Consider adopting in your courses.

www.routledge.com/Party-Politi...