There is a deep economic anxiety driving Republican voters toward the blunt-spoken presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump. It is more than just anger at the political class or rebellion against political correctness. It reflects decades of lost jobs and falling wages for a swath of blue-collar Americans, who saw […] Read more »
The Appeal of ‘Trump-ism’
Is the “silent majority” ready to roar again? Donald Trump thinks so. At his big rally in Phoenix recently, the bombastic businessman insisted: “The ‘silent majority’ is back, and we are going to take the country back.” Trump’s future in the GOP presidential race is uncertain after his churlish attacks […] Read more »
Why the Democratic nomination race won’t be a Clinton coronation
If you thought the 2016 Democratic race would be a coronation, think again. Divisions in the party are emerging. Just like the ones we’ve seen before. Almost every contest for the Democratic presidential nomination ends up as a race between a progressive and a populist. Progressive candidates are inspirational. They […] Read more »
Class or Ideology? My Conversation With Bernie Sanders
“Everything I’m telling you may end up being wrong,” Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator seeking the Democratic nomination for president, said early in our conversation on Thursday. I had written an article concluding he had slim chances of winning the nomination, based on the limits of his ideological appeal. Mr. […] Read more »
Why Don’t the Poor Rise Up?
… Society has drastically changed since the high-water mark of the 1930s and 1960s when collective movements captured the public imagination. Now, there is an inexorable pressure on individuals to, in effect, fly solo. There is very little social support for class-based protest – what used to be called solidarity. […] Read more »
Your Politics Determine Your Anxieties
Add this to the long list of disagreements between Red and Blue America: Republicans and Democrats are worried about completely different things when they look at the state of the U.S. economy, culture and political system, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll has found. CONT. Janet Hook, Wall Street […] Read more »