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The curse of the midterms

The curse of the midterms

Yes, Democrats should be worried.

Explain It to Me · Vox

February 15, 202258m 33s

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Show Notes

Dylan Matthews and Jerusalem Demsas are joined by Vox’s Andrew Prokop (@awprokop) to talk about the midterm elections. More specifically, why the president’s party almost always loses seats in Congress. They discuss the theories of this phenomenon and what, if anything, can work on the margins. Plus, a white paper about Obamacare and the 2010 midterm elections.


References:


Why the president’s party almost always has a bad midterm


The political science of door-knocking and TV ads


White paper: “One Vote Out of Step? The Effects of Salient Roll Call Votes in the 2010 Election”


Dylan’s old, wrong article arguing that congressional position-taking doesn’t matter much


Hosts:

Dylan Matthews (@dylanmatt), senior correspondent, Vox

Jerusalem Demsas (@jerusalemdemsas), policy reporter, Vox


Credits:

Sofi LaLonde, producer

Dara Lind, engineer

Libby Nelson, editorial adviser

Amber Hall, deputy editorial director of talk podcasts


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