Two big news events of the day – the prisoner exchange with the Taliban and the new EPA rules. My take on the GOP on climate here. My conflicted feelings over Bergdahl here. Plus: the world’s first elphie – i.e. an elephant selfie. Terrible real estate photographs. And the far too defensive nature of the transgender movement.
Sargent has something to add about the GOP’s know-nothingism on the climate. He thinks the Dems have concluded that they can handle the blowback from coal states now if they can secure bigger majorities among the young in 2016. Money quote:
Look back at this Pew poll from last fall. It shows that the very voter groups who could continue giving Dems a demographic edge in national elections — the same groups that Republicans must broaden their appeal among — overwhelmingly believe there is solid evidence of global warming:
73% of those aged 18-29 believe it’s happening.
76 percent of nonwhites believe it’s happening.
67 percent of college educated whites believe it’s happening.
Meanwhile, far more Republicans remain skeptical of global warming, but this is largely driven by Tea Party Republicans. While 61 percent of non-Tea Party Republicans believe there is solid evidence of global warming, only 25 percent of Tea Party Republicans believe this.
It’s a wedge issue!
The most popular posts of the day were The Scandal of the GOP and Climate Change; followed by A Problematic POW.
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