Thinking a lot about the wise words of V. O. Key for no particular reason: "The voice of the people is but an echo" la.utexas.edu/users/jmcive...
![An excerpt from VO Key's classic, The Responsible Electorate.
"It thus can be a mischievous error to assume, because a candidate wins, that a majority of the electorate shares [their] views on public questions, approves [their] past actions, or has specific expectations about [their] future conduct. Nor does victory establish that the candidate's campaign strategy, [their] image, [their] television style, or [their] fearless stand against cancer and polio turned the trick. The election returns establish only that the winner attracted a majority of the votes -- assuming the existence of a modicum of rectitude in election administration. They tell us precious little about why the plurality was [theirs]."
"For a glaringly obvious reason, electoral victory cannot be regarded as necessarily a popular ratification of a candidate's outlook. The voice of the people is but an echo. The output of an echo chamber bears an inevitable and invariable relation to the input."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:35e2tl3i24v4pwulhgb3geb6/bafkreihdshmofwkqja3whwn5auyyknjjsvroj5qb4be3qx7gig6mpnfrra)
Brad Jones
@bradjones.bsky.social
Author of Colorado's Political Landscape (https://www.co-political-landscape.org). Senior Research Director, YouGov; Formerly Meta; Even more formerly Pew Research Center
Hi journalist friends! I wrote a one-pager cheat sheet for covering polling for @aapor.bsky.social! Head it here:
A Journalist’s Guide to Understanding Polls & Surveys - AAPOR
aapor.org
please...my crosstabs....they're very interesting
Ariel Edwards-Levy@aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 6d agoGeneric ballot numbers tend to get outsized attention, but IMO we asked a bunch of interesting stuff in our latest poll, so I want to highlight some of the findings that aren't directly horserace: www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/politics/cnn-poll-midterm-generic-ballot-democrats-republicans-change
TO THOSE WHO HAVE LOVED ME When I am gone Let me lie in state in your heart for a day or two or more. Then plant me deep in the soil of your best work And let me help toward harvest.
The Salt Lake Tribune@sltrib.com · 6d agoLegendary Latter-day Saint poet, playwright and activist Carol Lynn Pearson has died at age 86. "The Mormon people were truly blessed to have her as a companion," a historian says, "and the institution would have done well to listen to her.”
What a tremendous gift Carol Lynn Pearson was to the Mormon community. She leaves big shoes to fill. One of my favorites that I come back to periodically: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTK-... (full text in the alt text). Rest in peace.
The Salt Lake Tribune@sltrib.com · 6d agoLegendary Latter-day Saint poet, playwright and activist Carol Lynn Pearson has died at age 86. "The Mormon people were truly blessed to have her as a companion," a historian says, "and the institution would have done well to listen to her.”
What a tremendous gift Carol Lynn Pearson was to the Mormon community. She leaves big shoes to fill. One of my favorites that I come back to periodically: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTK-... (full text in the alt text). Rest in peace.
The Salt Lake Tribune@sltrib.com · 6d agoLegendary Latter-day Saint poet, playwright and activist Carol Lynn Pearson has died at age 86. "The Mormon people were truly blessed to have her as a companion," a historian says, "and the institution would have done well to listen to her.”
It was a lot of fun trawling through the websites for the candidates for state legislature. I wrote up some of my findings here: www.co-political-landscape.org/how-colorado... #copolitics
How Colorado Politicians are Talking About the Issues
Democrats and Republicans running for the state legislature are presenting themselves in very different ways. They talk about different issues and they talk about those issues in very different ways. ...
co-political-landscape.org
took a look at the final turnout numbers in the #copolitics primary and talked to some cool folks to get their takes. Thanks @bradjones.bsky.social, Kelly Maher and Owen Loftus!
Turnout surged in Colorado’s primary election | Rocky Mountain PBS
The 2026 primaries marked the second highest primary turnout since 2010.
rmpbs.org
My analysis of the cast vote records in Denver was picked up by @axios.com www.axios.com/local/denver...
Denver is Colorado's progressive powerhouse, new data shows
Of the 159,000 Denver voters who cast ballots in the Democratic primary, 35% chose a trifecta of left-leaning candidates.
axios.com
Another finding from this data: if you ignore the governor line (where no positive recommendation was given), about 1 in 5 voters in the Democratic Primary in Denver cast a ballot in line with the DSA recommendations www.denverdsa.org/vote #copolitics @denverdsa.bsky.social
Denver DSA June 2026 Ballot Guide
Denver DSA's June 2026 Democratic primary ballot guide. Candidate recommendations for U.S. Senate, Congress, Governor, State House, State Senate, and county races across Denver, Jefferson, and Arapaho...
denverdsa.org
Brad Jones@bradjones.bsky.social · 2w agoI've got a post up today looking at the "cast vote records" in Denver county (which contains almost all of CD-01 where Melat Kiros won in June). #copolitics www.co-political-landscape.org/cast-vote-re...
Another finding from this data: if you ignore the governor line (where no positive recommendation was given), about 1 in 5 voters in the Democratic Primary in Denver cast a ballot in line with the DSA recommendations www.denverdsa.org/vote #copolitics @denverdsa.bsky.social
Denver DSA June 2026 Ballot Guide
Denver DSA's June 2026 Democratic primary ballot guide. Candidate recommendations for U.S. Senate, Congress, Governor, State House, State Senate, and county races across Denver, Jefferson, and Arapaho...
denverdsa.org
Brad Jones@bradjones.bsky.social · 2w agoI've got a post up today looking at the "cast vote records" in Denver county (which contains almost all of CD-01 where Melat Kiros won in June). #copolitics www.co-political-landscape.org/cast-vote-re...
One thing we’re finding in our research: Many people feel they’re in a constant negotiation with information. Every day we’re asked to decide what to trust, what to ignore, and what deserves our attention. That’s a lot.
I've got a post up today looking at the "cast vote records" in Denver county (which contains almost all of CD-01 where Melat Kiros won in June). #copolitics www.co-political-landscape.org/cast-vote-re...
I've got a post up today looking at the "cast vote records" in Denver county (which contains almost all of CD-01 where Melat Kiros won in June). #copolitics www.co-political-landscape.org/cast-vote-re...
Nolan's take on The Odyssey is as good as people are saying, but I've got to believe there is an even better 2:10 minute film hiding in there somewhere
Super interesting new report from @pewresearch.org on clusters of news consumers. There is a clear relationship between age and these groups, but the share that are most active ('mobilizers') and the least active ('outsiders') are basically unrelated to age. www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2...
Whenever I think about this book I get a disturbing feeling in the pit of my stomach (complimentary)
The Salt Lake Tribune@sltrib.com · 3w agoBYU professor Steven Peck's 2009 thriller, "A Short Stay in Hell," is exploding in popularity, "disturbing" whole new waves of readers.
My lasting image of Lindsey Graham will always be when he theatrically declared “Count me out. Enough is enough!” after January 6th — and then got back in with Trump more than ever before for Trump 2.0
Lindsey Graham: “Count me out. Enough is enough”
Graham concluded by saying that “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are lawfully elected and will be the president and vice president of the United States on January the 20th,” earning applause from his coll...
wbtv.com
Live your life in such a way that, when you die, people don’t have to rush to say, “Please be polite!”
There are only bad reasons for doing this 4 months before a federal election
Votebeat@votebeat.org · 4w agoMonths before the midterms, the only federal agency dedicated solely to election administration is now unable to do anything.
I'm sure others have pointed this out, but I was shocked when I saw how dramatically outside the norm the 2025/2026 winter was for Colorado snowpack: Each line in the graphic below shows the snow water equivalent in the Colorado mountains. 1/
If you believe (as I do) that reports of Trump's "overwhelming" victory in 2024 were greatly exaggerated, you have to at least entertain the possibility that similar reports of a left-populist surge in 2026 might overstate the reality. www.co-political-landscape.org/on-the-risk-... 1/
On the risk of reading too much into election results
Just as it was a mistake to read too much into Trump's 2024 victory, it is a mistake to try to read too much into a handful of Democratic primary contests.
co-political-landscape.org
good #copolitics piece here.... tho i'd also argue that we elect people to represent all of the people, not just those who voted for them. many forget that aspect.
Brad Jones@bradjones.bsky.social · last mo.If you believe (as I do) that reports of Trump's "overwhelming" victory in 2024 were greatly exaggerated, you have to at least entertain the possibility that similar reports of a left-populist surge in 2026 might overstate the reality. www.co-political-landscape.org/on-the-risk-... 1/
Between the bicentennial and the 250th, we’ve gone from Nazis in Skokie to Nazis in Washington DC. We need to do much, much better in the next 50 years.
Rafael M Batista@rafmbatista.bsky.social · last mo.Patriot front marching from Union Station right now. White supremacist and neo-fascist organization. Cowards.
Earlier this year, I made the grounded case for why we should still believe in the promise of America. Today’s America is something we inherited. But tomorrow’s is still for us to make. America’s problems are solved problems. The blueprints exist. Better days are ahead.
The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls
On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.
open.substack.com
The bar chart is the goat of data viz. Often, your choice is between a chart that is novel or one that clearly communicates the data.
Matt Enlow@unsolvedmre.bsky.social · last mo.In each diagram, the green area and blue area are equal
If you believe (as I do) that reports of Trump's "overwhelming" victory in 2024 were greatly exaggerated, you have to at least entertain the possibility that similar reports of a left-populist surge in 2026 might overstate the reality. www.co-political-landscape.org/on-the-risk-... 1/
On the risk of reading too much into election results
Just as it was a mistake to read too much into Trump's 2024 victory, it is a mistake to try to read too much into a handful of Democratic primary contests.
co-political-landscape.org
I feel like I'm more willing than most to recognize that political leaders need to make difficult decisions that are going to make some people upset, but Polis seems in a league of his own in terms of legacy-destroying choices...
Kyle Clark@kylec.bsky.social · last mo.Gov. Jared Polis passed over other deserving inmates to give clemency to Tina Peters, according to two members of his clemency board who revealed Polis overruled the unanimous recommendation of his experts. Polis has now fired both of them.