David Watkins
@djw172.bsky.social
Political Science at the University of Dayton, occasional blogging at @lawgunsmoney.bsky.social.
Reposted by David Watkins
wonder if mamdani tried to single stair pill him
single stair, folks. you’re hearing it more and more. single stair. it’s a beautiful term. makes wonderful homes - and we love a lot of beautiful, affordable homes. i think i probably just coined it. i’m not sure. but you’re hearing it more and more.
single stair, folks. you’re hearing it more and more. single stair. it’s a beautiful term. makes wonderful homes - and we love a lot of beautiful, affordable homes. i think i probably just coined it. i’m not sure. but you’re hearing it more and more.
November 21, 2025 at 9:22 PM
wonder if mamdani tried to single stair pill him
single stair, folks. you’re hearing it more and more. single stair. it’s a beautiful term. makes wonderful homes - and we love a lot of beautiful, affordable homes. i think i probably just coined it. i’m not sure. but you’re hearing it more and more.
single stair, folks. you’re hearing it more and more. single stair. it’s a beautiful term. makes wonderful homes - and we love a lot of beautiful, affordable homes. i think i probably just coined it. i’m not sure. but you’re hearing it more and more.
Very curious to see what his running game looks like going forward. It seems like even modest adjustments from opposing pitchers/defenses could have shut down his base-stealing pretty easily, but they just didn't ever do it for some reason.
Of the 32 MLB free agents with 400+ plate appearances this year, Josh Naylor had the slowest sprint speed and the most stolen bases. 😮
November 17, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Very curious to see what his running game looks like going forward. It seems like even modest adjustments from opposing pitchers/defenses could have shut down his base-stealing pretty easily, but they just didn't ever do it for some reason.
I would like to believe MTG's recent turn against Trump was motivated by cynical calculation to advance her political career, because then we could expect others Rs similarly situated to reach similar conclusions. Alas, I suspect she's just an idiosyncratic conspiracist following her muse.
Good question & good answer. But - MTG has spent YEARS participating in Jan 6 planning & cover up. Harassing people like highschooler David Hogg, celebrating attacks on people like Paul Pelosi. She's shown us who she is & now, she's trying on a new persona in order to advance her political career.
November 16, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I would like to believe MTG's recent turn against Trump was motivated by cynical calculation to advance her political career, because then we could expect others Rs similarly situated to reach similar conclusions. Alas, I suspect she's just an idiosyncratic conspiracist following her muse.
It's wild that the city in the US making the most significant investments in public transit expansion is also the city with the deepest, most unwaivering commitment to the principle that as few people as possible should be allowed to leave near transit stops.
After failing to stop a major state housing bill from becoming law, Los Angeles leaders are turning to plan B: Delaying Senate Bill 79's implementation and pushing for unspecified legislative changes next year. My dispatch for @politico.com Pro subscribers subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...
POLITICO Pro: Los Angeles failed to defeat a major housing law, so it's turning to Plan B: Delay, delay, delay
A report from the city planning department outlines strategies for pushing off many of the effects of SB 79 through 2030.
subscriber.politicopro.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:49 PM
It's wild that the city in the US making the most significant investments in public transit expansion is also the city with the deepest, most unwaivering commitment to the principle that as few people as possible should be allowed to leave near transit stops.
Never has that Norm McDonald "I know this may seem harsh" meme been more apt
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Never has that Norm McDonald "I know this may seem harsh" meme been more apt
The answer to the question "Can you see a large body of water when you look out the window?" is a strikingly effective predictor of voting behavior in Seattle.
seattle's political geography is as wild as (and presumably at some level is reflective of) its physical geopraphy
November 13, 2025 at 5:07 PM
The answer to the question "Can you see a large body of water when you look out the window?" is a strikingly effective predictor of voting behavior in Seattle.
Something like this was inevitable, and I'm sure there's more to come, but I figured it'd be a fringe-major leaguer journeyman. Clase hadn't made big money yet but it's not hard to imagine him getting an 80-100 million dollar contract in the next few years.
November 9, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Something like this was inevitable, and I'm sure there's more to come, but I figured it'd be a fringe-major leaguer journeyman. Clase hadn't made big money yet but it's not hard to imagine him getting an 80-100 million dollar contract in the next few years.
This article suggests fare-free transit is "normal" in Europe; it's far more common in the US.
Europe: Tallinn, Luxembourg, Dunkirk, Komarno (17th largest city in Slovakia)
US: Kansas City, Lawrence, Albuquerque, Chapel Hill, Alexandria, Worchester, Missoula, dozens of smaller systems.
Europe: Tallinn, Luxembourg, Dunkirk, Komarno (17th largest city in Slovakia)
US: Kansas City, Lawrence, Albuquerque, Chapel Hill, Alexandria, Worchester, Missoula, dozens of smaller systems.
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ -- Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:07 PM
This article suggests fare-free transit is "normal" in Europe; it's far more common in the US.
Europe: Tallinn, Luxembourg, Dunkirk, Komarno (17th largest city in Slovakia)
US: Kansas City, Lawrence, Albuquerque, Chapel Hill, Alexandria, Worchester, Missoula, dozens of smaller systems.
Europe: Tallinn, Luxembourg, Dunkirk, Komarno (17th largest city in Slovakia)
US: Kansas City, Lawrence, Albuquerque, Chapel Hill, Alexandria, Worchester, Missoula, dozens of smaller systems.
I'll do a brief thread about this in the next few days, but I just noticed my contribution to the Oxford Handbook of Republicanism, on the place of Public Administration in Republican theory, has gone live. Happy to send a PDF to interested parties w/o access.
academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
Public Administration
AbstractThis chapter considers the place of administrative state actors and the choices they face in republican political theory. Under Philip Pettit’s inf
academic.oup.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I'll do a brief thread about this in the next few days, but I just noticed my contribution to the Oxford Handbook of Republicanism, on the place of Public Administration in Republican theory, has gone live. Happy to send a PDF to interested parties w/o access.
academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
academic.oup.com/edited-volum...
Ventured out into the wilds of East Dayton this afternoon to try Taqueria La Cuchilla. Well worth it; cachete (torta) and al pastor (taco) both exceptional. The creamy/spicy avocado sauce they give you is something I had no idea how much I needed in my life.
November 2, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Ventured out into the wilds of East Dayton this afternoon to try Taqueria La Cuchilla. Well worth it; cachete (torta) and al pastor (taco) both exceptional. The creamy/spicy avocado sauce they give you is something I had no idea how much I needed in my life.
Reposted by David Watkins
Happy Middle Housing Day in Berkeley. As of today, multifamily housing up to 3 stories at 70 units per acre is byright and ministerial on all Berkeley lots in the flatlands and foothills for the first time in history, stretching from Kensington to Oakland.
November 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Happy Middle Housing Day in Berkeley. As of today, multifamily housing up to 3 stories at 70 units per acre is byright and ministerial on all Berkeley lots in the flatlands and foothills for the first time in history, stretching from Kensington to Oakland.
Apparently, it's national cat day. Here's Willow and Nova, stealing my chair just seconds after I made the mistake of getting up.
October 31, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Apparently, it's national cat day. Here's Willow and Nova, stealing my chair just seconds after I made the mistake of getting up.
Pleased to see DSA's better angels prevail on a very important vote. If you're voting for Mamdani and want his mayoral term to be successful on his own terms, passing these propositions is not optional.
NYC: Vote YES on ballot props 2-4. We at DSA' Social Housing campaign @housethefuture.bsky.social support them to move affordable and social housing along at the city AND state levels.
October 27, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Pleased to see DSA's better angels prevail on a very important vote. If you're voting for Mamdani and want his mayoral term to be successful on his own terms, passing these propositions is not optional.
This is revealing. Fryer is, for all intents and purposes, a Harrell campaign operative. He's given this prime real estate for an opinion piece a week before the election, and the number of specific, positive Harrell accomplishments he chooses to identify and promote in the piece is zero.
I don't know who Alex is talking to other than "Seattle cops," but what I have heard consistently is that the race for mayor is about affordability and quality of life in an increasingly unequal city—not "let's take our anger at Trump out on City Hall." www.seattletimes.com/opinion/race...
If the Seattle electorate is angry at Trump, does it make sense to take it out on City Hall?
At a national inflection point, voters face a choice between incumbents who have met the moment and challengers who want to tax, spend and take us backward.
www.seattletimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:25 PM
This is revealing. Fryer is, for all intents and purposes, a Harrell campaign operative. He's given this prime real estate for an opinion piece a week before the election, and the number of specific, positive Harrell accomplishments he chooses to identify and promote in the piece is zero.
An early memory of mine is asking my parents to explain the (utterly deranged) Bircher political messages on this sign as a kid. It gives me a small amount of pleasure to learn it is now owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis reservation.
October 25, 2025 at 12:40 AM
An early memory of mine is asking my parents to explain the (utterly deranged) Bircher political messages on this sign as a kid. It gives me a small amount of pleasure to learn it is now owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis reservation.
Reposted by David Watkins
People kvetch about the chaos-inducing serial comma, but you can also do a lot with a colon! Beware, biographers!!
October 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
People kvetch about the chaos-inducing serial comma, but you can also do a lot with a colon! Beware, biographers!!
Is there any remotely plausible path toward some sort of sanction or punishment for Adrienne Adams, or whoever whoever else is directly behind these obviously illegal mailers?
@council.nyc.gov is blatantly violating the City Charter's prohibition on using government resources for electioneering with their mailers and social media posts opposing pro-housing measures 2-4. Chapter 49, §1136.1: there is no ambiguity about how illegal this is. www.nyccfb.info/law/charter/...
October 23, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Is there any remotely plausible path toward some sort of sanction or punishment for Adrienne Adams, or whoever whoever else is directly behind these obviously illegal mailers?
Good. Pujols deserves better.
Albert Pujols won't be the Angels' manager, per Mark Feinsand.
Orioles and Padres remain interested.
Orioles and Padres remain interested.
October 20, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Good. Pujols deserves better.
Regardless of whether this guy gets a windfall by selling, "people who value not living near apartments more than they value being in the walkshed of a major transit stop moving out of that walkshed" seems like a highly desirable bit of Tiebout sorting.
The funny thing is that if Gerisch decides to move because he finds living near apartments intolerable, he'll probably make a killing by selling his home to a multifamily developer.
won't anyone think of the uhhhh sales executives who will be harmed by transit-oriented development in California
October 12, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Regardless of whether this guy gets a windfall by selling, "people who value not living near apartments more than they value being in the walkshed of a major transit stop moving out of that walkshed" seems like a highly desirable bit of Tiebout sorting.
Harrell's campaign is leaning hard on the "experience managing large, complex organizations" argument. And yet here's a story where SDOT ultimately follows its own policies and does the right thing, but *in spite of* Harrell's leadership, thanks to pressure from his opponent's activist organization.
First, it was eliminating a bus lane advocates fought for for years after developers wanted space for their right turns from the East side. Advocates fought back and the city immediately reversed.
www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/02/s...
www.theurbanist.org/2025/10/02/s...
SDOT Backpedals on Plans for Capitol Hill Bus Lane Removal » The Urbanist
# Work will continue on upgrades to E Union Street that will allow Route 2 buses to return to the corridor, but the idea of reopening the street to all westbound traffic has been taken off the table -...
www.theurbanist.org
October 10, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Harrell's campaign is leaning hard on the "experience managing large, complex organizations" argument. And yet here's a story where SDOT ultimately follows its own policies and does the right thing, but *in spite of* Harrell's leadership, thanks to pressure from his opponent's activist organization.
Quite the impressive leader Harrell picked for SPD. If your internal promotions cannot hope to withstand an article in local indie media factually recounting the incidents in the promoted individual's disciplinary file, maybe that promotion isn't the right call?
publicola.com/2025/10/09/r...
publicola.com/2025/10/09/r...
Reversing Decision, SPD Removes Controversial Captain Tietjen from East Precinct - PubliCola
By Erica C. Barnett Two days after PubliCola exclusively reported that Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes had promoted controversial police…
publicola.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Quite the impressive leader Harrell picked for SPD. If your internal promotions cannot hope to withstand an article in local indie media factually recounting the incidents in the promoted individual's disciplinary file, maybe that promotion isn't the right call?
publicola.com/2025/10/09/r...
publicola.com/2025/10/09/r...
Rough baseball day for us upper left corner folk, but a nice silver lining.
Happy "Yankees Elimination Day" to all who celebrate.
Happy "Yankees Elimination Day" to all who celebrate.
October 9, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Rough baseball day for us upper left corner folk, but a nice silver lining.
Happy "Yankees Elimination Day" to all who celebrate.
Happy "Yankees Elimination Day" to all who celebrate.
Reposted by David Watkins
Rumor is that Gavin Newsom is wavering on housing and might veto SB 79. If you live in California, please reach out to the governor’s office today: cayimby.org/call-sb-79/
Call the Governor to sign SB 79!
Please call the Governor and urge him to sign SB 79!
cayimby.org
October 3, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Rumor is that Gavin Newsom is wavering on housing and might veto SB 79. If you live in California, please reach out to the governor’s office today: cayimby.org/call-sb-79/
Tip for others returning to blue books: The key to grading a big pile of hand-written exams w/o losing your mind is to identify the ones with the worst handwriting and grade them first. Then you're "grading downhill." I am amazed at how effective this simple bit of psychological self-manipulation is
September 30, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Tip for others returning to blue books: The key to grading a big pile of hand-written exams w/o losing your mind is to identify the ones with the worst handwriting and grade them first. Then you're "grading downhill." I am amazed at how effective this simple bit of psychological self-manipulation is
Adam Bonica leans into comparative trends to argue that anti-corruption is a strong campaign strategy for Democrats. This leaves me conflicted.
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-democr...
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-democr...
The Democrats' Path Forward: Become the Anti-Corruption Party
But to reform the system they first need to reform the Democratic Party.
data4democracy.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Adam Bonica leans into comparative trends to argue that anti-corruption is a strong campaign strategy for Democrats. This leaves me conflicted.
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-democr...
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-democr...