Weekend Update, March 13

Some fast takes

On March 12, 2020, I published my first ever COVID-19 article, and I think it holds up pretty well!

Factional brands

(Photo by NewOrleans1944)

Niskanen Center colleagues of mine published two good pieces about the utility of factional identities for specific situations — here’s Steven Teles on urban Republicans and here’s Kal Mundis and Robert Saldin on rural Democrats.

I just wanted to add a slightly more superficial point to everything they say, which is that I think branding matters. Today the Blue Dog Caucus is a thing in the House. Everyone knows broadly that they are “moderate,” but nobody has a very clear sense of how exactly they are different, or even what’s the difference between being a Blue Dog because you hold a tough seat and being Nancy Pelosi who wants her members in tough seats to win re-election. Back in the heyday of the Democratic Leadership Council, things were different — it really meant something that Joe Lieberman was a New Democrat and that the New Democrats were …