Donald Trump, a ‘Rigged’ Election and the Politics of Race

As he seeks to revive his embattled candidacy, Donald J. Trump has seized on a new argument to rally his supporters and to explain away a possible defeat in November: that Democrats are preparing to exploit weak voter identification laws to win a “stolen election” through fraudulent voting. … Election […] Read more »

The psychology behind why people believe conspiracy theories about Scalia’s death

… Recently, psychologists began measuring people’s predisposition to believe conspiracy theories. Using polling and questionnaires, scientists developed a list of questions about political control and secrecy. The surveys were designed to tap respondents’ underlying views of how the world works, rather than their thoughts about specific conspiracy theories. Through these […] Read more »

The Eight Causes of Trumpism

… Both Trump and a broader phenomenon—call it Trumpism—are stronger and deeper than most veteran political analysts realized or were willing to acknowledge. They are neither immediate nor transitory phenomena. The disdain for the status quo, for authority figures of both parties and other institutions, and the anger at inexorable […] Read more »

UT/TT Poll: Texans Wary of Domestic Use of Military

Texas voters think Gov. Greg Abbott was right to send the Texas State Guard to monitor U.S. military exercises here, and they consider federally ordered domestic military intervention likely under certain circumstances, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. CONT. Ross Ramsey, Texas Tribune Read more »