… You can just switch off the radio, change channels, only like the Facebook pages that give you the kind of news you prefer. You can construct a pillow fort of the information that’s comfortable. Most people aren’t totally ensconced in a cushiony cave, though. They build windows in the […] Read more »
For Solace and Solidarity in the Trump Age, Liberals Turn the TV Back On
… Traditional television, a medium considered so last century, has watched audiences drift away for the better part of a decade. Now rattled liberals are surging back, seeking catharsis, solidarity and relief. … Uncertainty and tumult have long driven ratings, and the interest is bipartisan. Fox News, already cable’s highest-rated […] Read more »
Trumpcare: Is this what populism looks like?
The battle in Congress over how to replace former President Obama’s healthcare law is about much more than health insurance. It’s the first legislative skirmish in a larger struggle over what Trumpism, Donald Trump’s presidential agenda, will turn out to be in practice. Can Trump succeed in remaking the Republican […] Read more »
The political lexicon of a billionaire populist
From the start of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged “total change,” delivering his promises with a scorched-earth political vocabulary — “Lyin’ Ted,” “Crooked Hillary,” “drain the swamp,” “lock her up.” Some found his language appalling, but others found it refreshing enough to make him president. Now, in the Oval […] Read more »
Donald Trump’s Political Stew
… The 2016 election and its aftermath have produced turmoil on the right while once again forcing into public view worrisome long-term trends in the Democratic electorate. … One of the mainstays of Democratic optimism is the conviction that a growing body of young voters — more liberal than their […] Read more »
How the New Health Care Bill Confirms the Asymmetry of the Parties
Matt Grossmann and I write a fair amount about health care in our book Asymmetric Politics because it’s a political issue that represents a particularly effective example of our main thesis: that the Democratic Party is organized as a coalition of social groups while the Republican Party is controlled by […] Read more »