Election post-mortem, a top comment

When I posted the following as the tip jar to Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Philae lands on comet), I didn't do anything different from all the rest of the tip jars that became election news entries here.  This time, it got recognized in Top Comments: New Jaguar Cubs Edition over at Daily Kos.

This diary-worthy personalized tip jar by Neon Vincent from Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Philae lands on comet). That's one amazing tip jar and believe it to be the very first Tip Jar to make a Top Comment.

Honestly, it was nothing special, but I'll take the praise.

Follow over the jump for the three news items I on a common theme that I strung together to make the first tip jar to be recognized as a top comment at Daily Kos.

University of Delaware: Recovering trust
Mike McCurry looks at midterm elections, sees need for civil discourse

3:08 p.m., Nov. 13, 2014--Mike McCurry would like to see politicians and voters alike embrace a “golden rule” of civility to restore the spirit of cooperation currently missing from the American political scene.

McCurry, a former White House spokesman and press secretary to President Bill Clinton, discussed the way Americans feel about their country and its elected leaders during a University of Delaware National Agenda speaker series talk given Wednesday evening, Nov. 12, in Mitchell Hall.

McCurry, who also has been a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State and director of communications for the Democratic National Committee, said exit polls from the Nov. 4 elections reveal a sense of uneasiness on important issues at home and abroad.

“This is not a happy country, and certainly not a country happy with its politicians, McCurry said. “It’s a country in which more than two-thirds of the people believe we are headed in the wrong direction, and that we are on the wrong track, and it should suggest to people in Washington, D.C., that they’ve got some work to do to recover the fundamental trust of the American people.”

Southern Illinois University: Poll examines race and law enforcement in Illinois
November 13, 2014

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- While most Illinoisans are satisfied with their police department’s performance, response time, and treatment of different members of the community, opinions among non-whites are less positive, according to a new poll by Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.

Illinoisans also oppose the idea of arming police with military equipment and split on whether it is necessary for a police force’s racial makeup to match its community.

The poll of 1,006 registered voters, taken Sept. 23 through Oct. 15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The poll finds race plays a role in opinion differences among registered voters, with non-whites being more critical of police than whites on most issues, especially when it comes to the racial makeup of local police forces. Geographical areas and neighborhood type also make a difference, with Chicago or more diverse neighborhoods being more likely to see police in a less favorable light compared to their suburban, downstate, and predominately white neighborhood counterparts.

Southern Illinois University: Poll: Voters opposed to tax increase extension
November 10, 2014

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Among the biggest challenges facing Illinois statehouse policymakers in the wake of last week’s election is whether to extend the “temporary” income tax increase in the face of broad public resistance.

According to a statewide poll of registered voters conducted this fall by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a solid majority (56.1 percent) opposes renewing the income tax rate of 5 percent, with most of those (32.6 percent) strongly opposing it.

Nearly one-third (32 percent) favor or strongly favor extending the income tax increase, about the same as the “strong” opposition.

Science Saturday is open for business fun!