Sunday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Sunday, May 17, 2026
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4 comments
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About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
Academics, lawyers. and engineers. Three professions not known for their skills at communicating with average humans. Like, say, voters.
What does our little OTB coterie need? Someone from sales. A person whose livelihood has depended on convincing people without use of either footnotes, citations or equations.
@Michael Reynolds: All comments sections needs fewer weirdos who take comments sections way too seriously and fewer self-impressed blowhards who haven’t ever run a successful campaign anywhere — and who couldn’t be elected dog catcher if they did run –yet are convinced of their imaginary political genius they knew better than to test in the real world.
When the sum total of a D-list kidlit author’s master political salesmanship are lame comments on a somewhat successful political blog that someone else started, it’s time to get over oneself, go outside, and touch grass.
Signed,
A therapist versed in narcissistic traits.
Farmers growing desperate amid rising energy and fertilizer prices (Axios)
Bankrupting oneself into the poor house to own the libs because a trans swimmer tied for 5th place is certainly a choice. I do feel bad for the many in agriculture and in farming communities who did not vote for this.
@Michael Reynolds:
I deal with sales professionals every so often.
What they do not do is wholeheartedly agreeing with their competition that this one, supposedly terrible, little thing that is part of their product is a) actually that meaningful; b) indeed blows absolute ass.
Instead, they tell you that it’s not a biggie, just a small thing that comes with the overall superior package – if they talk about it at all, that is.
Or, in the words of Don Draper: “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.”
If you want to make the point that you want to make, you really need a different analogy.