In 1928, despite Democrat Al Smith's loss to Republican Herbert Hoover, political scientists found critical changes in American electoral and demographic patterns that began the reversal of the three decade Republican lock on party identification.

Tim Canova, who's trying to unseat former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the House, has raised a greater share of his funds from small donors so far than any other congressional candidate.

These are exciting political questions, eliciting no shortage of educated guesses and snarky tweets. But what's harder to find is real data. The public polling -- while not flawed -- ultimately just measures underlying partisanship or the hard ID of the different candidates.

Last week's Brexit victory provided new evidence of the power of the populist wave that is sweeping the world. Those who are worried about the nationalist, tribalist, intolerant tone behind the Brexit campaign and the growing ranks of populist leaders around the world should be asking: is there a way to stop this wave?