Gregory Koger

On Tuesday, I wrote about how parties promote a coordinated message to get their talking points across. In response, leading Republicans offered four responses, and then there was this reminder of the importance of staying on message. But at least the two official responses by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen* were coordinated, […]

This evening will display American political parties in full sway. After (or during!) the State of the Union speech and the Republican rebuttal, legislators and party spokespersons will rush to the media and provide their reaction to the speeches. In theory, this could be a fascinating night: hundreds of smart people talking about the direction […]

First, some prelude music: One aspect of last week’s Senate showdown still puzzles me: why did the Senate Republicans filibuster judges when they knew that their behavior could lead to the Democrats exercising the “nuclear option”? In hindsight, that is, the GOP blockade against Obama’s executive and judicial nominees seems a bad fight: now they […]

As the second week of the shutdown grinds on, I thought some data collected by DePaul professor Wayne Steger for a project on hypocrisy in ideological appeals might be informative. Wayne scanned the database of the National Review, an iconic conservative magazine/website, for terms indicating interest in fiscal restraint: “balanced budget,” “cut spending,” and “cut […]

On Wednesday Ezra Klein posted a really smart take on the GOP’s budget strategy: they face a collective-action problem in that the position that is politically beneficial to most House Republicans as individuals (no budget without Obamacare repeal!) is a politically disastrous bargaining position for the party as a whole. This is not an anomaly. As […]

On June 27, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration reform bill 68 to 32. This was a laudable accomplishment in itself, but it is also an interesting foray into political science. While the underlying problems with the current system have languished for years, the impetus for this effort has been 2012 election. After the results […]

Last Tuesday’s announcement of a deal to end an institutional crisis in the Senate gave the Democrats almost everything they were asking for: approval of President Obama’s nominees for Secretary of Labor, EPA Administrator, Ex-Im Bank President, and Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In addition, Obama will withdraw two nominees […]

Earlier in the week, the Texas Senate was paralyzed on the last day of a special session by a 12 1/2 hour filibuster against a bill banning late-term abortions and setting strict standards for abortion facilities. (See the Texas Tribune’s liveblog for a detailed timeline). The primary obstructionist was Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Ft. Worth), but after […]