The Big Sort : Neighborhoods

It's Time Now To Allow Politicians To Do Their Jobs

Bill Bishop — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Anthropologist E.E. Evans-Prichard studied the Nuer, a pastoral people living in the Upper Nile region of Africa, herders who moved with their animals to the tune of the region's rivers. In flood times, Nuer tribes retreated to higher ground, and when...(read more)

Still Undecided? Ask Your Neighbor.

Bill Bishop — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:14:00 GMT

Undecideds don't vote on issues. If they were interested in issues—or even in the personalities of candidates—they wouldn't be undecideds. "They are not radical, not liberal, not conservative, not reactionary," C. Wright Mills wrote in 1953, "they are...(read more)

How Running a Campaign Is Like Building a Megachurch

Bill Bishop — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:47:00 GMT

The model for the modern political campaign is the evangelical megachurch. This isn't a partisan observation. Both George Bush in 2004 and Barack Obama adopted the basic organizing techniques that many ministers have been using since the 1970s to grow...(read more)

Spank Your Kids? You Likely Vote Republican.

Bill Bishop — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:11:00 GMT

While the rest of political journalism continues to parse the electorate by ways of life described by the U.S. census— Matt Bai gets up close and chummy with "white guys" in the Times over the weekend—we at The Big Sort will consider two measures that...(read more)

So What If They Didn't Talk? The Differences Were Still Fundamental.

Bill Bishop — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:29:00 GMT

Just a few minutes into Friday's debate and Jim Lehrer was already exasperated. The moderator wanted McCain and Obama to talk to each other. (Did he expect the candidates to banter away the next 90 minutes like two buddies in a fishing boat?) And Lehrer...(read more)