I have enjoyed giving as much space for political scientists this cycle as we could. You learn a lot that way. For example:
David A Hopkins:
The volume and generally deferential character of this media attention encouraged Trump to flirt with a political career as early as the late 1990s. His later phase as an outspoken critic of Barack Obama was similarly given substantial amplification by national media outlets; Trump made regular appearances on Fox News Channel (including a weekly "Monday Mornings with Trump" feature on Fox and Friends) and CNBC during much of Obama's presidency, treated once again as a captain of industry who could boast substantial expertise on the subject of politics.
Now that Trump is a viable candidate for president of the United States, political journalists have published and broadcast a number of more critical stories about his past and present career. Today, Trump is frequently portrayed as someone with severely limited knowledge of public affairs; as a candidate who intentionally skews the truth, appeals to popular prejudices, and incites violence among his supporters; and even as a business mogul who is much less successful, wealthy, and ethical than he claims. Members of the press who reject the "Trump as media creation" argument often point out that Trump is the most unpopular major-party nominee in the history of public opinion polling, suggesting that the coverage Trump has received has damaged rather than boosted him in the eyes of the electorate.
To be sure, it is likely that Trump will face mostly negative press coverage from now until November that will, if anything, make it more difficult for him to win the presidency. But critics both inside and outside the news media who view Trump as self-evidently unqualified for national office should examine the basis upon which millions of Republican primary voters formed the opposite impression. Donald Trump did not descend into the American electoral arena on an escalator from oblivion; the media presented him to us as a political authority for many years before they began to decide that maybe he was just an authoritarian.
Jonathan Ladd:
However, the media environment poses a major challenge for Trump in the general election campaign. The key question is whether most major Republican politicians will unite behind him — not just officially endorse him, but also refrain from criticizing his positions and rhetoric. If not— if substantial numbers of major Republican figures refuse to say supportive things to reporters about Trump's campaign — it will lead to fairly negative media coverage.
NY Times:
And when the decision to pull out of the European Union sent markets into a tailspin, Ken Walker, a retired construction worker, was unfazed.
“I don’t have any money in the stock market,” Mr. Walker, 59, said as he drank a pint of beer in a pub. “So what’s it to me?”
Jamelle Boiue:
Is Elizabeth Warren Really the Best Choice for Vice President?
Only if you think the symbolism of her nomination is bigger than the hole she’ll leave in the Senate.
Jonathan Chait with a discussion we have all the time here:
Will Barack Obama’s Democratic Party Wage Bernie Sanders’s Class War?
Obama believes better policies can create more economic growth. (“I do believe we can grow a lot faster than we’re growing right now.”) More growth means more income for everybody — gains for the poor don’t need to come entirely at the expense of the rich.
Sanders, on the other hand, presents the political struggle as a zero-sum conflict. He sees economic growth as almost irrelevant:
The whole size of the economy and the GDP doesn't matter if people continue to work longer hours for low wages and you have 45 million people living in poverty. You can't just continue growth for the sake of growth in a world in which we are struggling with climate change and all kinds of environmental problems. All right? You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country.
The Guardian has a 5-part series on gun violence that is well worth a read:
What could actually work to fix gun violence in America – and what doesn't
In the wake of high-profile shootings, proposals such as banning assault weapons gain momentum. But there are solutions few national politicians are looking at that take a very different tack
The American Prospect:
Trump Lays Bare the Moral Bankruptcy of the Religious Right
The movement’s top leaders crown the foul-mouthed casino owner as their savior.
In the long run, that’s a very good thing. They are all in on the grift; let it be exposed.
Two profiles of the odious Stephen Miller, Trump advisor, this from Julia Ioffe:
The point, as Miller would lay it out in Dallas and has laid out countless times before, is that there is a vast conspiracy that blurs together all wings of the American political spectrum in its quest to keep the American masses down. “That’s what this all comes down to,” Miller said, picking up steam and poking the air with his index finger. “Everybody who stands against Donald Trump are the people who have been running the country into the ground, who have been controlling the levers of power. They’re the people who are responsible for our open borders, for our shrinking middle class, for our terrible trade deals.” His voice stiffly added decibels. “Everything that is wrong with this country today, the people who are opposed to Donald Trump are responsible for!”
and this from Elise Foley:
Donald Trump’s Adviser Has Been Battling Multiculturalism Since High School
Stephen Miller has been railing against PC culture for half his life.
Pew: Whom do you trust?
I’ll give you two guesses
Brookings:
Joy Reid, National Correspondent at MSNBC, cited the survey’s findings that Americans are bitterly divided over whether American culture and way of life has changed for the better (49 percent) or the worse (50 percent) since the 1950s. More than two-thirds of Republicans (68 percent) and Donald Trump supporters (68 percent) believe the American way of life has changed for the worse since the 1950s. Connecting this nostalgia to survey results indicating anxiety about immigration and cultural change, Reid argued that culture—not economics—is the primary concern animating many Trump supporter
