Grand Old Planet

When you drive through an eroded canyon you can see exposed the geology that lies beneath the surface. The author is saying that reading Mr Rubio’s interview is similar in that you can clearly see what lies “beneath the surface” of his remarks.

But the same phenomenon is visible in many other fields. The most recent demonstration came in the matter of election polls. [color=red]Coming into the recent election, state-level polling clearly pointed to an Obama victory — yet more or less the whole Republican Party refused to acknowledge this reality.

  1. Does “more or less” mean “more than half or less than half”?
  2. Does “coming into” mean “Consider”?
  3. What does “came in the matter of election polls” suggest?

Thanks, Mr. Cerberus. Could you please go through out my next problems?

The most obvious example other than evolution is man-made climate change. As the evidence for a warming planet becomes ever stronger — and ever scarier — the G.O.P. has buried deeper into denial, into assertions that the whole thing is a hoax concocted by a vast conspiracy of scientists. And this denial has been accompanied by frantic efforts to silence and punish anyone reporting the inconvenient facts.

  1. What is the summery of the above three sentences?

  2. Can I write the bold part like the following…
    The G.O.P. has buried deeper into denial
    the G.O.P. has buried deeper into assertions

As the evidence for a warming planet becomes ever stronger — and ever scarier — the G.O.P. has buried deeper into denial, into assertions that the whole thing is a hoax concocted by a vast conspiracy of scientists.

[color=red]As Mr. Mooney showed, modern American conservatism is highly correlated with authoritarian inclinations — and authoritarians are strongly inclined to reject any evidence contradicting their prior beliefs.

Is there any difference between the two as in the above two sentence?

Yes, there is a difference.

As the evidence becomes stronger. In the period/time that the evidence becomes stronger. (Used to indicate that something happens during the time when something is taking place.)

As Mr Mooney showed. Used to add or interject a comment relating to the statement of a fact.

Beeesnees, I understand your explanation.

Is there any alternative word that I can use to replace “as” in the following sentence?

As Mr. Mooney showed, modern American conservatism is highly correlated with authoritarian inclinations — and authoritarians are strongly inclined to reject any evidence contradicting their prior beliefs.

Not a word that I can think of. You’d have to say something like:
‘In the way that Mr Mooney showed…’
‘As’ is much easier!

Today’s Republicans cocoon themselves in an alternate reality defined by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, and only on rare occasions — like on election night — encounter any hint that what they believe might not be true.
Q1. How they cocoon themselves in an alternate reality like Fox news, Rush Limbaugh e.t.c?
Q2. What is the subject of “encounter”?
And, no, it’s not symmetric. Liberals, being human, often give in to wishful thinking — but not in the same systematic, all-encompassing way.

Q3. What does the bold part suggest?