From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Jason Brennan on the ethics and rationality of voting. Ethicists say voting with your heart, without a care about the consequences, is actually immoral. Tom Jacobs on how to use Facebook to increase voter turnout: Reluctant voters respond to social pressure. Liz Olson on the less noticed battles that may decide the presidential election: State skirmishes over the right to vote could help determine the outcome of the November election. Critics see efforts by counties and towns to purge minority voters from rolls. Five major GOP voting restrictions have been blocked in 10 days: Ari Berman on how courts have ruled against Republican-backed voting restrictions in five states (and more and more and more). This is how the Supreme Court could stop future voter suppression laws. If you’re not voting this election, you’re ridiculous.
Jill Lepore on a tale of two conventions: The spectacles in Cleveland and Philadelphia both came down to a question as old as the Republic — who are the people and who speaks for them? Only 9% of America chose Trump and Clinton as the nominees: While Donald J. Trump or Hillary Clinton will represent the entire country, the Americans who selected them are a small part of it. Timothy Noah on how Trump vs. Clinton is the 1980s vs. the 1990s: The best way to understand this election is as a clash of decades. Religious Right author Wayne Grudem says voting for Trump is not “morally evil”.
Hillary Clinton targets a skeptical crowd: White male voters. America the Terrible: Reihan Salam on why Donald Trump’s pessimistic worldview resonates with Republican voters in 2016. Donald Trump and the myth of mobocracy: Robert Zaretsky on how the dubious ideas of 19th-century Frenchman Gustave Le Bon reverberate in 2016. What do Donald Trump voters really crave? They want respect because they haven’t just lost economically, but also socially. Alexandra Wolfe on J.D. Vance and the anger of the white working class. David Frum on why Trump supporters think he’ll win.
Electoral map gives Donald Trump few places to go. Donald Trump, discovering new way to undermine democracy, calls election rigged: “Trump is going to do serious damage even if he loses. If he wins, the future of the Republic is in serious danger” (and more). Whether Trump is starting to lay the groundwork for contesting the election on claims of widespread voter impersonation fraud or some kind of broader effort for election officials to falsify results, we’re entering a dangerous new phase of the 2016 election campaign.
