Walter Shapiro

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

Historically, South Carolina is very affected by Iowa and NH. And maybe even Nevada. So the firewall strategy should not be exaggerated. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@JohnJHarwood @slothce @RonBrownstein @danbalz I remember. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@CitizenSullivan There is a mysterious power that comes with round tables that produces civility. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

If they're going for three hours, ABC should let candidates speak for more than 75 seconds. Such short answers make everyone sound shrill to the detriment of the Democratic Party and the voters. Quick answers lead to squabbles (great for TV ratings), but not enlightenment. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@GoldenfireMJ Primaries changed everything. Before primaries like NH and WI in 1968, the first test of strength for an incumbent was at the convention. Now it’s the primaries so the LBJ example is apt. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

I think you should count LBJ in 1968 and maybe even Truman in 1952. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@MoChroi1965 Lack of foreign policy questions was unfortunate. But it was mostly due to the TV questioners striving to stir up controversy. It was not an anti-BIden conspiracy. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@MoChroi1965 For the record, I also attacked the media for over-hyping the Monmouth Poll about Biden. If you're curious, look at my recent tweets. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@JeffSmithMO I strongly believe that debates matter far more in letting voters develop a comfort level with certain candidates than they do in creating gotcha moments. My own guess is that with all the top candidates on the same stage in September, there will be fewer attacks than in July. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

Smartest list of polling questions to sort out 2020 Democrats. Please, can a public pollster ask these questions. Kudos to @dianefeldman for list. Talking to voters, I particularly find the 2016 question ("Hillary or Bernie?") to be useful. https://t.co/K8CyTYCm5W — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@StevenHerbert I would have focused on IA and NH polls. And I would give credit to candidates who had done prior service to the Democratic Party like Bullock who had headed the DGA. Also, I would never have used the cockamamie small donor rules. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

I'm trying to imagine the rage if Tom Steyer's astroturf quest for small donors single-handedly triggered two debates. I hate the DNC rules, but, at least, Steyer is on the sidelines along with Marianne Williamson. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@KrisSchultzNH @ConnieSchultz But that verbal sleight of hand never convinced anyone. It's like Republicans refusing to put the final "ic" on Democratic Party. And liberal is actually a fine word and historically accurate. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

The FT prefers "the creation of a caretaker government under Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn" to Boris Johnson's latest chicanery. To put this in an American context, "When you've lost the FT and they prefer Corbyn..." https://t.co/6A0t0kLm4J — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@Margoandhow That final line was too easy. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@ConnieSchultz Actually, Walter Reuther was a great LIBERAL labor leader. In Reuther's era, calling someone a progressive was suggesting they had supported the Communist-infiltrated 1948 presidential campaign of Henry Wallace against Truman. (By the way, liberal is not a term to be avoided). — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

Since Buttigieg has the money to go the distance and will make the cut for future debates, I can't see this "do or die" talk as anything other than overhyping the stakes next month. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@RelentlessYapp @NickRiccardi @daveweigel The Democratic dropouts were mostly because of rigid DNC rules that rewarded candidates for not concentrating on Iowa and NH. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

The orgy of national polls (which are cheaper to produce than separate polls of IA, NH and SC) has blinded too many handicappers to the fact that we don't have a national primary. Kudos to @daveweigel for this correct dismissal of national numbers five months before Iowa. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@StevenLevy Part of the problem is the DNC ceding much of the power over the debates to the networks. The networks want one debate because they believe that it would goose ratings. What a way to pick a would-be president. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@RonBrownstein You mean that you're not mesmerized by the A's versus Rays battle for second AL wildcard? The thrills keep me up all night. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

I'm concerned. If there is only one September debate, what happens to all the excitement of a TV special as the candidates draw lots for their debate lineup? Wasn't the televised drawing the entire point of having debates at all? https://t.co/APygsomrb1 — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

Even though I have repeatedly changed planes in Atlanta, I want to make this opportunity to say that I would not accept an interim appointment to the Senate from Georgia. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

A perfect response by a respected pollster. But the real problem is not with Monmouth, but rather with too many reporters who slavishly over-react to every poll more than five months before Iowa. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@tomdiemer As I write in my New Republic profile of Warren, I think a significant aspect of her support stems from Democrats' impression of her as a person and a candidate rather than from the ideological tilt of her policy proposals. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

Two theories: 1). The Monmouth sample is too small for any meaningful conclusions to be drawn; and 2). Democratic voters are far less ideological than the cable TV conventional wisdom would suggest. Personally, I think both theories are true. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

So we are over-reacting to a national poll with a small-ish sub-sample, even though there is no such thing as a national primary and we're still more than five months to Iowa. Be still my beating heart. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

My favorite line of the week from the always terrific @MelindaKCMO. Trump, she wrote, "reminds me more every day of 'Vinny the Chin' Gigante, a mob boss who used to go around New York City in his bathrobe and house shoes, babbling to himself." https://t.co/3BNTkiZSLm — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

Nixon was also infinitely smarter about politics, didn't believe that he was infallible, could attract and keep talented appointees, had a compliant Fed Chairman in Arthur Burns and didn't tweet. — PolitiTweet.org

Walter Shapiro @MrWalterShapiro

@mseyfang I have been teaching the Biden chapters in a seminar at Yale for eight years and it remains relevant to today's students. — PolitiTweet.org