One of These Things Is Not Like the Other: UKIP and the Tea Party

An American’s Perspective on the Rise of UKIP, Yorkshire Post, August 29, 2014. "Though they’re compared relentlessly, Ukip and the Tea Party are actually very different animals. Ukip’s backers are more likely than the average voter to be older, male, and lower middle class former Tories."

UKIP, the European Elections, and the Opportunity Beyond

Growing Pains, Weekly Standard, May 26, 2014. "There is much to applaud in UKIP’s desire to free the Parliament of Westminster from the toils of Brussels. But there is nothing about this mission that is going to be easy. Whether it wins or not on May 22, UKIP has a narrow and testing window of opportunity before the next general election. If UKIP is going to do the job, this needs to be the year it grows up."

The US Election in British Eyes

In Britain, Shock and Awe at the Election Wave, Foxnews.com, November 10, 2010. "The British follow our politics far more closely than we follow theirs. That’s because what the U.S. does matters to everyone. Still, reading British coverage of American elections occasionally reminds me of the old joke that our two countries are divided by a common language."

Four Ways to Think About the Tea Party

Tea and Sympathy for America's Disillusioned Voters, Yorkshire Post, November 4, 2010. "The White House's conspiracy-mongering is not surprising, but it is depressing. This country is too big, too diverse, to be deeply swayed by a conspiracy, on the right or the left. President Obama did not win in 2008 because of a left-wing conspiracy: he won because he ran a good campaign, because John McCain ran a mediocre one, and because people were tired of George W. Bush. Rather than indulge in the sickness of inventing conspiracies, it is more helpful to seek to understand why the Tea Party sprang to prominence."