The Fix:
A new study suggests fake news might have won Donald Trump the 2016 election
Exactly how that translates into raw votes and whether it swung the election is the big question — and the one that seems to preoccupy Trump. It's difficult to know how fake news played specifically in the three states that delivered him the presidency: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But the fact that Clinton lost each of these divisive states by less than one percentage point means that even a slight impact by Russia and/or fake news — or even then-FBI Director James B. Comey's announcement about Clinton's emails or some other factor — could logically have changed the result.
The headline is a bit overplayed, but the quoted piece is on the money. And an insecure trump broods over it.
Just 1/3 of Republicans are core “economic anxiety” warriors.
David Niewart/Vice:
The Alt-Right Media Bubble Is in Trouble
Donald Trump became president in part thanks to ugly conspiracy theories deep in the internet nether. Can it last?
Since the searing violence in Charlottesville, Virginia last summer, the public has grown more aware of the true nature of the resurgent white nationalist movement in America. But precious few understand how it seemed to rise so quickly, where it came from, or how it operates.
Except for the people leading the pack, of course.
The ringleaders of the alt-right know perfectly well that its existence is utterly dependent on an ability to leverage social-media outlets and other—decidedly less mainstream—platforms on the internet. Consider, for example, notorious alt-right guru Richard Spencer’s response when Twitter shut down his account way back in November 2016.
“I am alive physically, but digitally speaking, there has been execution squads across the alt-right,” he complained on YouTube. “It is something like the Night of Long Knives.”
Paul Krugman/NY Times:
I’m not saying that everything is great in coastal cities: Many people remain economically stranded even within metropolitan areas that look successful in the aggregate. And soaring housing costs, thanks in large part to Nimbyism, are a real and growing problem. Still, regional economic divergence is real and correlates closely, though not perfectly, with political divergence. ...
So what is the matter with Trumpland?
For the most part I’m in agreement with Berkeley’s Enrico Moretti, whose 2012 book, “The New Geography of Jobs,” is must reading for anyone trying to understand the state of America. Moretti argues that structural changes in the economy have favored industries that employ highly educated workers — and that these industries do best in locations where there are already a lot of these workers. As a result, these regions are experiencing a virtuous circle of growth: Their knowledge-intensive industries prosper, drawing in even more educated workers, which reinforces their advantage.
Fresno Bee:
Fresno surgeon: Gun violence is a ‘public health issue’
I am a general surgeon, a mother and a new resident here in Fresno. As many of your readers, I share a deep and growing concern for gun violence in America – particularly in American schools.
My first experience with guns was at the age of 5, when I found myself hiding under a coffee table as a shooter attacked my father in our home. I still recall his blood dripping down the wood as I wondered what would happen next.
Gun violence has been a passion of mine since then. As a surgeon in training in urban Philadelphia, I cracked open more chests and explored more abdomens as a result of gunshot wounds than I can count. And now I cringe, as my fellow Americans do, as children die preventable deaths in school, massacred by weapons no citizen should own.
I do not write this as a Democrat or a Republican. I write this as a mother, as an American, as a human being. Gun violence is a public health issue, not a party issue.
Daily Beast:
We’ve Fought the NRA for Decades—We’ve Never Seen It as Panicked as It Is Now
In the immediate aftermath of the Parkland shooting, we drew on our combined 50 years of experience battling the National Rifle Association to predict that nothing would change on guns.
Those same 50 years of experience now tell us we were wrong. Why? Because we have never seen the NRA more vulnerable.
Daniel W.Drezner/WaPo:
The worst member of Trump’s Cabinet: A bracketology
So who is the worst? In honor of the NCAA college basketball tournament, let’s consider this using the time-honored tradition of bracketology. My seedings of the Elite Eight of Trump’s Cabinet:
Charlie Cook/National Journal:
How to Handicap the Race for the Senate
The toughest question for me this election cycle is which party, if either, will gain Senate seats.
With the obvious caveat that things can change between now and Nov. 6, it’s reasonably clear that Republicans in the House are going to have a tough election. The question is whether it will be bad, really bad, or really, really bad. Even though President Trump’s current approval ratings aren’t as weak as they were in the fall, they are still at a historically low level for a president at this stage and definitely in the danger zone. And remember, the president’s approval ratings and the performance of his party in House races are historically often linked.
But the Senate outlook is far more complicated.
Hey, guess what? Columbus, Indiana, the hometown of Mike Pence, is having its first Pride parade this Saturday! Come out and make it memorable. Here is the Facebook page.
Oh, and tell Mike “hello”.