… Is the fundamental fissure in American life now demographic or geographic? The answer, a growing body of evidence suggests, is both. And that may point to a future of even greater distance — and antagonism — between a Democratic coalition centered in racially diverse, largely secular, and post-industrial metropolitan […] Read more »
Turning Affluent Suburbs Blue Isn’t Worth the Cost
Democratic politicians and strategists identify a “suburban revolt” against President Trump and right-wing Republican extremism as the key to victory in the 2018 and 2020 elections. … The suburban vote has been closely divided since the 1990s. Barack Obama held his final campaign rally in 2008 in an exurb of […] Read more »
Orange County Fights Turning Blue. And the Resistance Is Formidable.
California has dug in at the front lines of the resistance to President Trump, suing to overturn his environmental policies, passing legislation to hamstring his immigration enforcement and marching in mass demonstrations of defiance. Then there is Orange County, a stubborn redoubt of conservatism that keeps defying prognostications that 80 […] Read more »
Why California Hasn’t Moved On From Dianne Feinstein
America is a young punk country with a knack for reinvention — political traditions don’t stick to our ribs. In case you needed any proof, look to California. Not 30 years ago, it helped elect George H.W. Bush, part of a 20-year streak of voting for Republican presidential candidates, including […] Read more »
Trump Against the Tide
Democratic voters, especially young, white liberals, have been moving sharply in a progressive direction, not only on issues of race, but across the board — on the economy, on immigration and on the environment. CONT. Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times Read more »
White America’s racial resentment is the real impetus for welfare cuts, study says
White Americans are increasingly critical of the country’s social safety net, a new study suggests, thanks in part to a rising tide of racial resentment. The study, conducted by researchers at two California universities and published Wednesday in the journal Social Forces, finds that opposition to welfare programs has grown […] Read more »