… What if Trump’s victory — carrying more than 200 counties where former President Barack Obama had won in 2008 and 2012 — was not primarily driven by his populist economic appeals, but by his rhetoric and policies around race and identity issues instead? Trump’s denunciations of Black Lives Matter, […] Read more »
Trump gambles on cultural frustration over economic self-interest
Chaos may have seemed the only guiding principle in the White House last week. But amid President Donald Trump’s Twitter tirades; the vulgar rant from his new communications director; the open internecine sniping; and the White House staff shakeup, the President offered two revealing hints about the policy direction he […] Read more »
Historical Trends in White Political Behavior Along Educational Lines
A longstanding topic of interest, the voting behavior of working class white population–and socioeconomic divides in voting patterns more broadly–once again attracted considerable attention during and after the 2016 election. Some assessments that have historically contextualized the low SES white vote have showed that this group voted more Republican than […] Read more »
How Fear of Falling Explains the Love of Trump
… The question that persists six months after Mr. Trump’s inauguration is why six key states — Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, along with 220 counties nationwide — flipped from Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016. Why did these voters change their minds? These are men and […] Read more »
The Closing of the Republican Mind
The election of President Trump has coincided with a reaction among Republican voters against open-mindedness, open borders and an open society in general — not to mention a growing hostility to cognitive elites. … Countless analyses have demonstrated that Trump won the election by combining support from traditional Republican voters […] Read more »
Views on Power and Influence in Washington
Most Americans say they have too little power in Washington these days, according to a new survey by The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Three in 4 Americans say they have too little influence in Washington and 76 percent say poor people have too little influence. Majorities say that […] Read more »