The Republican Party under Donald Trump has devolved into a populist cult of personality. But Mr. Trump won’t be president forever. Can the cult persist without its personality? Does Trumpist nationalism contain a kernel of coherent ideology that can outlast the Trump presidency? At a recent conference in Washington, a […] Read more »
Climate Could Be an Electoral Time Bomb, Republican Strategists Fear
When election time comes next year, Will Galloway, a student and Republican youth leader at Clemson University, will look for candidates who are strong on the mainstream conservative causes he cares about most, including gun rights and opposing abortion. But there is another issue high on his list of urgent […] Read more »
Republicans Watch Fractious Democratic Debates and Like What They See
After two nights of debates between 20 presidential hopefuls that exposed a wide rift between the Democratic Party’s progressive and centrist wings, President Trump’s allies and Republican strategists said Thursday that they had gotten largely what they wanted: Five hours of a nationally televised clash where Democrats themselves questioned the […] Read more »
The GOP’s Challenge in 2020? Don’t Make It About Trump.
… The president has a unique ability to dominate news coverage. But to win in 2020, the central question of the 2020 campaign cannot be solely about who President Trump is; it must instead be about what President Trump and the GOP will do with four more years. Right now, […] Read more »
How third-party votes sunk Clinton, what they mean for Trump
For all the talk about why Donald Trump was elected president while losing the popular vote and how he could win again, one of the least discussed results of the 2016 election offers valuable lessons for Democrats. An astounding 7.8 million voters cast their presidential ballots for someone other than […] Read more »
In this Michigan county, voters feel economic gains and Trump fatigue
… At a time when unemployment is near historic lows and the economy is flourishing, the 2020 election could turn on the question of whether Americans turned off by Trump’s racist and xenophobic rhetoric will give him a pass because they and their loved ones are doing better financially. Places […] Read more »