ABSTRACT
Among the many pearls of wisdom to emanate from the lips of Daniel Patrick Moynihan during his long and illustrious career in academia and public life was this favorite of mine: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion. He is not entitled to his own facts.” If only it were so. In today’s world of ideologically polarized parties, the partisan and ideological lenses through which citizens view politicians and issues also refract what ought to be less subjective indicators of the world as it is-that is, facts. There are distinct Democratic and Republican views of the state of the economy, progress in the war in Iraq, and many other matters on which people with different values and policy preferences ought to be able to agree.
