Michael Austin

Professor-turned-administrator and political commentator. Author of six books including "That's Not What They Meant! Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from the American Right" (Prometheus Books).

Five Reasons to Reject the "Biden Rule” Argument Against Merrick Garland

From the way that Mitch McConnell and other Republicans have been talking this week, one might suspect that “the Biden Rule” is an actual thing—that it existed as a

By Michael Austin

March 18, 2016

Five Reasons to Reject the "Biden Rule” Argument Against Merrick Garland

The “Let the People Have a Voice” Fallacy in Supreme Court Nominations

I feel bad for Senator Mitch McConnell. He has been placed in a no-win situation by the nomination of Merrick Garland to fill Antonin Scalia’s spot on the Supreme

By Michael Austin

March 17, 2016

The “Let the People Have a Voice” Fallacy in Supreme Court Nominations

Is Hillary Inevitable Again?

The answer to the question in the title is “yes.” For all but about two weeks of the past four years, she has been the inevitable 2016 Democratic nominee. For

By Michael Austin

March 16, 2016

You Say You Want a Re-Alignment? Four Models for America's Political Future

“Realignment.” Get used to that word because we are going to be hearing it a lot in the next few months. American political parties realign themselves every 40 or 50

By Michael Austin

March 9, 2016

You Say You Want a Re-Alignment? Four Models for America's Political Future

Let's Make America "Pretty Good" Again

Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again” is a deceptively simple—and simply deceptive—bit of rhetoric. These four words embed two arguments designed to appeal to the worst

By Michael Austin

March 3, 2016

Recess Is Over; It's Time to Pick a President

I remember the first time I used the joke. I thought it was amazingly funny and would put my worst enemy in his place for good. But I had to

By Michael Austin

February 28, 2016

Recess Is Over; It's Time to Pick a President

The Hillary Advantage: All the Shoes Have Dropped

Americans love horse races, especially the political kind. News organizations know this, so they make sure to create a horse race or two every four years—even when (and perhaps

By Michael Austin

February 24, 2016

The Hillary Advantage: All the Shoes Have Dropped

Playing the “Socialist Card” in a Mixed Economy

As Bernie Sanders makes the shift from a populist insurgent to an arguable front-runner, we should expect to see the Socialist Card deployed with much greater frequency than ever before.

By Michael Austin

February 20, 2016

Playing the “Socialist Card” in a Mixed Economy

3 Scenarios for the Coming Supreme Court Chess Match

All Americans should mourn the loss of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Whether one agreed with him or not (and I was usually one of the “nots”), he was a

By Michael Austin

February 13, 2016

3 Scenarios for the Coming Supreme Court Chess Match

My Dear Liberal Friends: Trump Shaming Isn’t Working, So Stop It

Harriet: I don't even know what the sides are in the culture wars. Matt: Well, your side hates my side because you think we think you're

By Michael Austin

February 10, 2016

My Dear Liberal Friends: Trump Shaming Isn’t Working, So Stop It

Politicizing the Tragedy

Of all the silly things that people say after a shooting incident like the one this week in Virginia, the silliest thing of all is, “don’t politicize the tragedy.

By Michael Austin

August 28, 2015

Standing Up for Secularism

In Saudi Arabia this week, doctors advised that the next phase of the punishment of liberal blogger Raif Badawi be postponed until he has healed from the first. Badawi has

By Michael Austin

January 25, 2015