Alito, SOTU, DeLay and Race -- 1/30/06
A couple of quick things you should read this morning that supply background to events that are coming up this week: the Alito vote, the president's State of the Union Address, and the House vote to replace Tom DeLay.
The NYT has a good piece on the conservative strategy, begun in 1982, that has ended with Alito's nomination (and expected confirmation) to the Supreme Court. In Chapter 10 we make the argument that the Supreme Court, despite its robes and marble columns and velvet drapes, is a political institution. This article should drive that point home. (David D. Kirkpatrick, In Alito, G.O.P. Reaps Harvest Planted in 1982.)
The Times also has a piece, a little fluffy, but interesting, on the process of writing the State of the Union address. (Elizabeth Bumiller, Summing Up the Union, and in the Boss's Words.) There have been lots of leaks in advance of the speech, especially as we noted last week on the subject of the president's possible proposals on health care. Be sure to watch the speech tomorrow night and to read coverage of it the next day.
The Washington Post reviews how current political scandal and negative poll numbers for congressional Republicans are playing out in the House election on Thursday to choose a new Majority Leader to replace Tom Delay. (Jonathan Weisman, Corruption Scandals Cast Shadow on GOP Leadership Race.)
On another less pressing note, the Washington Post also covers a conference of social psychologists who have done some fascinating research on how people form political attitudes. In Chapter 11, we talk about how attitudes are transferred from generation to generation through political socialization, but these individual level studies put a new twist on how attitudes form -- how we process negative information about politicians we like and also how our racial biases influence our political choices. Controversial, but interesting stuff. (Shankar Vedantam, Study Ties Political Leanings to Hidden Biases.)