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).
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There was a note on yesterday’s paper about insufficient hotel demand in Mexico, too.
One obvious question is how’s the airbnb demand.
I’ve heard a lot, too, about how high ticket prices are, and that some overseas fans simply can’t afford the cost of tickets, travel, and accommodation. Also about people reticent to travel to the US for some inscrutable reason.
I don’t much care, but I look forward to half empty stadiums during the snoozefest.
@Kathy:
The timing of the U.S. hosting the World Cup is unfortunate as a lot of Americans (and quite a few tourists I would imagine) are suffering from blue dot fever. It seems this fever afflicts not just those looking to attend a concert but to those interested in attending a major sporting event as well.
Folks are feeling like they have to be more careful where they spend their money.
Our political climate is not helping matters but ultimately it comes down to whether or not you have a disposable income some of which can go towards concerts and sporting events.
ETA: AI tells me that technically it is musicians that suffer from blue dot fever, but I like to think this affliction is quite contagious in that an average Joe who is thinking of attending a concert but ends up seeing a sea of blue dots might suddenly find themselves sapped of the energy needed to buy a ticket.
If ICE thugs pepper spray a US senator in broad daylight in view of cameras, what do you think they do to detainees behind closed doors?
I was quite angry when Governor Polis commuted Tina Peters’s sentence and assumed he’d been played by the trump administration but lo and behold at the same time as the commutation announcement Colorado gets $47 million for water projects which had been frozen for 18 months after approval by the Biden administration and then seven days later on 5/22 the trump admin releases $40 million the Biden admin had approved for purchase of historic Colorado River in flow water rights from Excel Energy. The Democrats censured Polis because they had to for appearances but it sure looks like there was a pay off for Colorado.
@Mr. Prosser: The Trump administration tried a similar thing with Maine, but I believe Maine sued and won that lawsuit. That’s my recollection.
So if Mr. Polis did not sue, that puts a different spin on it.
@Jay L. Gischer: It’s possible that both the mitigation money and the water rights funds arrived coincidently after Polis’s commutation.
Both Colorado senators and two state reps claimed they worked with the administration to unfreeze the rights money.
The mitigation funds actually were part of a multi-state coalition that sued FEMA when DOGE moved to terminate the BRIC grant program—a multibillion-dollar pre-disaster mitigation effort. In response, a coalition of over 20 states sued, arguing that FEMA lacked the legal authority to cancel the program and divert the funds. In December 2025, a summary judgment and permanent injunction in favor of the states was issued.
Because FEMA had not immediately resumed the program, the plaintiffs filed a motion to enforce the December ruling. In March 2026, the court sided with the coalition again, ordering FEMA to provide funding as required by statute.
My problem is I don’t trust coincidences, especially since the Iran-Contra hostage release BS after Reagan’s election so I immediately think Conspiracy!