James Booth

political analysis + campaign analytics

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@KelseyTuoc congratulations!

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@simonsarris 10 week old figured this out last night, very cool

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@MattZeitlin lagers and vindaloos, lagers and hot pots, you really don't need to be going elsewhere

[Paul Graham @paulg]

So much of the badness in the world is caused by misgovernment that I sometimes think the most effective form of philanthropy would simply be to donate to political campaigns.

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

had a huntsman live out its life on my bedroom wall once. very reassuring for this exact reason

[Vayraxa @vayraxa]

Australia is wild.
This Aussie shows how to catch a common house spider and explains why it’s actually good to keep it around—so it can eat other bugs..

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@DKThomp @firstadopter "how hard could this be?"

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@ENPancotti wooohooo congratulations!!

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@Rob_Flaherty sphere was a no brainer, people just find it hard to understand that on a presidential its a win if the final dollar of spend is doing anything at all

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

extraordinary statement from @joshsimonsmp who understands this is an existential moment for labour, not political cycle business as usual:

[Josh Simons @joshsimonsmp]

For decades, Westminster has overseen the managed decline of towns like mine. We have talked big, then acted small, stuck in a politics of incrementalism that cannot meet the moment. We have lost the trust of those our party was built to serve.

It is my unwavering belief that nothing short of urgent, radical, courageous reform will make a difference. That must start with a change in leadership.

Today, I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield. I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for.

This has not been an easy decision. This is my family’s home, where only a few weeks ago, doctors and nurses at Wigan Infirmary saved our newborn son’s life.

But we all must make choices and in recent days I found myself with a difficult one: defend the status quo or step forward and act. I have made my choice.

I am in politics because politics is how you change lives for the better. My party has one last chance to do that: deliver for the people and places I represent, drive economic growth, secure our borders, reform our state and politics, and change a status quo that is not working.

That is the fight. I believe Andy is the one to lead it.

[Josh Simons @joshsimonsmp]

Read my letter to my constituents below:

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@simonsarris is this a house for cars? what's going on

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

ok but this remains true, constant interruptions is incompatible with deep work

[andrew arruda @andrewarruda]

“E-mails 'hurt IQ more than pot'”

- CNN, Friday, April 22, 2005

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

[guy standing meme] life is good and there has never been a better time to be born into the world

[Leah Libresco Sargeant @LeahLibresco]

Unusually explicit connection from the rejection of children to the death drive at the end of this reader roundup in the NYT.

Begins with the usual “Who would want to bring children into a world…” and ends, well…

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

whenever anyone questions whether diet coke might be bad for you the answer is just "compared to what"

[Miles Brundage @Miles_Brundage]

Diet Coke is a great human achievement

Delicious 100% of the time in canned/bottled form (but also customizable with fountain machines), produced and distributed at an unimaginable scale, probably OK for you, no animal-derived ingredients, loved across political + other lines

[Miles Brundage @Miles_Brundage]

Diet Coke is a great human achievement

Delicious 100% of the time in canned/bottled form (but also customizable with fountain machines), produced and distributed at an unimaginable scale, probably OK for you, no animal-derived ingredients, loved across political + other lines

[NOTUS @NOTUSreports]

The Star launches in June with dramatically expanded coverage of Washington politics and policy — and new coverage of D.C. itself. The District isn’t just the place where politics happens. It’s home to the people who pull the levers of power. It’s where they live and work and commute and eat and vote and navigate the unique intersection of politics and real life.

The Star will cover all of it, from Donald Trump’s stamp on the District to the ambitions of its first new mayor in more than a decade. Who’s wielding power in D.C.? What’s driving them? What impact are they having on housing, schools, transportation and the District’s neighborhoods? What’s next for Home Rule? For statehood? And will the Nationals ever be good again?

We’ll do it with the same rigor we bring to our coverage of national politics and policy, and we’ll do it with the best local reporting team in D.C. We’re excited to announce the start of that team today — veteran journalists you know and trust, plus newcomers who will bring fresh eyes to the vibrant and sometimes vexing place we all call home.

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@DKThomp going to be hitting never before seen levels of boomer energy one day explaining to my grandkids what we used to do on a [thursday, friday,-] saturday night

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@mattyglesias ok but a majority of 17 year olds "unable to leave the neighborhood" is immediately turning me into a boomer

[Jack Walker @walkerdjack]

🚨 NEW paper out in @PSRMJournal with @lockhartm, Huber, and Gerber: Common polling methods can significantly overestimate attitude change. We show a null effect of Trump’s felony conviction on vote choice using eight-wave panel data.

🔗 https://t.co/gyUt5phJOH

[James Booth @JamesFBooth]

@wmataGM Improvement in DC metro has been amazing, would be crazy to disinvest rather than invest more, thank you for the leadership Randy