As the Democratic presidential primary swings into full gear, voters and strategists are asking themselves what kind of campaign messaging can defeat President Donald Trump when it comes to economics and immigration. … Meanwhile, Republican strategists are wondering whether a replay of the immigration-heavy 2018 midterm election strategy can work […] Read more »
2020 takes on new clarity & urgency
Most commentators are failing to read how ordinary Americans, independents, some Republicans and Democrats, are responding to President Trump and how determined they are to bring an end to his presidency and its defining fight against immigration and a multicultural America. Voters are paying intense attention to politics, and their […] Read more »
How the Trump Campaign Used Facebook Ads to Amplify His ‘Invasion’ Claim
President Trump’s re-election campaign has harnessed Facebook advertising to push the idea of an “invasion” at the southern border, amplifying the fear-inducing language about immigrants that he has also voiced at campaign rallies and on Twitter. Since January, Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign has posted more than 2,000 ads on Facebook […] Read more »
Can Trump’s Words Incite Violence?
This installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast deals with two mass shootings this weekend, one of which was explicitly tied to white nationalist terrorism. On Saturday, a young white man targeted immigrants and killed at least 20 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in an attack being investigated […] Read more »
A Fourth Texas Republican Congressman Plans to Retire in 2020
Representative Kenny Marchant of Texas is planning to announce his retirement on Monday, according to two Republican officials, becoming the fourth Republican House member from Texas in recent weeks to head for the exits rather than face re-election in 2020 in a state that is rapidly becoming more competitive. … […] Read more »
For Democrats, and for Republicans, a summer of discontent
This has been a rough week for Republicans and for Democrats. As the long August recess begins, these are not happy times for either political party. The Democratic presidential candidates put on two nights of debating in Detroit, producing maximum internal bickering and negativity and minimal positive or outward messaging […] Read more »