Is Donald Trump tightening his grip on the Republican Party? This week, only four House Republicans voted to condemn Trump’s latest questionable tweets — which may make it seem that the GOP is united behind Trump. But nearly 20 Republicans have unequivocally condemned Trump’s language in recent days. Their actions […] Read more »
Trump Employs an Old Tactic: Using Race for Gain
For the fourth season of “The Apprentice,” Donald J. Trump searched for a gimmick to bolster ratings. His idea was simple if explosive — pit an all-white team against an all-black team. “Do you like it?” he asked, previewing the concept on Howard Stern’s radio show in April 2005. “Yes,” […] Read more »
White Anxiety, and a President Ready to Address It
Two forces convulsing American politics found each other at President Trump’s rally in North Carolina this week: a sense of anxiety among white voters about their standing in a country that is growing more diverse, and a politician intent on stoking those worries. … More than anything else, the rising […] Read more »
How Trump’s 2020 reelection strategy could work — but probably won’t
… The Trump strategy is pretty simple: 1. Drive up the unfavorable ratings of his Democratic rival as he did in 2016 in order to compensate for his own low ratings. 2. Bank on an electoral college/popular vote split as he did in 2016. 3. Use a campaign of racial […] Read more »
Suburbs Were the Battleground of 2018. Why Are Both Sides Doing Everything They Can to Alienate Them in 2020?
… Trump believes that he won in 2016 because of — not in spite of — his rhetoric, divisiveness and open hostility to minorities and immigrants. His instincts have been further rewarded by a GOP that has failed to criticize him. It’s easy to understand, then, why he believes he […] Read more »
Trump Voters Are Not the Only Voters
The anti-Trump vote is the single largest coalition in American politics. That was true in 2016, despite Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the Electoral College. It was true in 2017, after Democrats won major victories in Virginia and Alabama. And it was true in 2018, when the anti-Trump coalition gave Democrats […] Read more »