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Faye Flam, who has written for Science Magazine and continues to write about science, mathematics, and medicine, recently explained in detail  a number of reasons why nature isn't as simple as some people believe, as exemplified by the contentious debate over transgender access to bathrooms. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has been attempting damage control after backlash from a bill requiring transgender people to use public bathrooms matching the gender on their birth certificate in schoo

In a recent fundraising email, Ted Cruz's presidential campaign asks supporters to donate at least $35 to become an "official deputy delegate" for the Cruz Crew. This is not to be confused with being a real delegate, as in the ones who will participate in the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. “You and I both have a lot riding on this election – the future of our country is at stake,” Cruz says in the email. “I know not everyone can come to Cleveland – but you can still become

Our updated blog on the more than 600,000 votes cast for withdrawn candidates includes a spreadsheet where we show the total votes earned by all the Republican and Democratic candidates for president. Given that many states held lower turnout caucuses and how some of those states (such as the Democratic caucuses in Iowa) don't report popular vote totals, it's not a truly fair way to measure relative strength of candidates, but it's still instructive about where things stand. Comparing Democrats

But quantity does not necessarily imply quality. While coverage has been abundant, it is worth exploring the nature of that coverage, and, specifically, whether the media is adequately vetting Trump as a candidate. Chuck Todd, the host of NBC's Meet the Press, claims that it has. “A common criticism you’ve heard is that Trump's rise is the media's fault, because we have enabled his rise," Todd has said. "But," he added, before listing several of Trump's flip-flops and liberal-to-conservative p

I am not a “numbers guy,” but from baseball to politics, numbers fascinate me. Following the Iowa Caucuses, I wrote about the fact that the national media had OD'd on a state unworthy of their time, attention, and money. The percentage of registered Republicans who voted for the GOP's 11 candidates was 17.6, while only 15.8 percent of registered Democrats voted for Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders.That means only 16.7 percent of Iowa’s 2,141,725 registered Republicans and Democrats partic

Not long after polls closed in New Hampshire Tuesday night, Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders were declared the winners of their respective primary contests. As of the publication of this article, Sanders secured 59% of the Democratic primary vote while Trump won a commanding victory with 34%. Looking at New Hampshire polls, the results aren't a huge surprise. The last polls leading up to primary day showed Sanders with a double-digit lead over Clinton. Trump has dominated the Republ

A panel of federal judges ruled Friday that North Carolina lawmakers used racial gerrymandering to draw at least two of the state's thirteen congressional districts. According to The News & Observer, the order from the three judges bars elections in the 1st and 12th congressional districts, leaving many to wonder about the March primary. From The News & Observer: "The lawsuit decided on Friday is one of several challenging the maps in federal and state court. Friday’s ruling was strongly worde

Anyone who has ever supported a third-party presidential candidate in an election has likely had to defend their decision from partisans who endorse the lesser-of-two-evils voter theory. By the logic offered by proponents of the theory, anyone who votes for an independent candidate is at best wasting their vote, and at worst handing the election over to their least-favorite major-party candidate. With as many as four potential Supreme Court replacements looming during the next presidency, parti

“Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game, and dumb enough to think it’s important.” ~ Eugene McCarthy Two uniquely American events are about to descend upon us: the Super Bowl and the presidential election. The American public is held enthralled with the spectacle of both, dedicating a seemingly unhealthy amount of watercooler, dinner table, and bar stool conversations to who is going to “win the big game.” In fact, both of these two

If an individual chooses, of his own volition, to refrain from the use of certain words, phrases, or characterizations that have in the past been part of his or her political discourse, on whom should the responsibility for that constraint — essentially an act of self-censorship — rest? Should the individual himself accept responsibility for actions he takes of his own free will, or should he — in what essentially is an act of self-victimization — seek to blame someone or something else? For m