Trump a working-class hero? A blue-collar town debates his credentials. Arlie Hochschild goes inside the head of a Trump supporter: Mike Schaff’s community was destroyed by the failures of a private company, but he’s voting for America’s most notorious businessman — why? Sean McCann reviews Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild. A fortress against fear: In the rural Pacific Northwest, this community of like-minded conservatives prepares for the day “it hits the fan”. Like warlordization in a state collapse context, Trump’s action confirms the breakdown of institutional control but also makes recovery and unity even more difficult to recover. Tara Golshan and Sarah Frostenson on the 40 top Republicans (and counting) who won’t support Donald Trump for president. GOP leadership has been ejected from the epistemic bubble. Beyond Trump: What will happen to the GOP after Trump?
Up from cartoonism: When we descend from a politics with cartoonish touches to a politics of cartoonism, we become unmoored, says William Kristol. Oliver Darcy on how Donald Trump broke the conservative media. Media false equivalence is Trump’s best friend in the debate over racism. Jamil Smith on how the Central Park Five ad told us who Donald Trump really is. Mark Thompson on Trump and the dark history of straight talk. In books on Donald Trump, consistent portraits of a high-decibel narcissist. Howard Schweitzer on 7 reasons why Trump would hate being president. What does Donald Trump believe? Whatever the last person to talk to him does, apparently — the Trump campaign just admitted one of the scariest things about its candidate. Citigroup analysis: Trump victory would cause economic downturn.
Trump is already trying to delegitimize a Clinton victory — historians say that might be unprecedented. Will Texas stick around for a Hillary Clinton presidency? Three out of five Trump voters in the Lone Star State would back secession if the Democrat wins, a new poll finds. What does social science say about how a female president might lead? GOP plots early wake-up call for Clinton: Looking past Election Day, Republicans sketch plan to stymie a President Hillary Clinton agenda. Democrats will expect a President Clinton to do the impossible: “It does not bode well for Democratic unity in 2017 or 2018 if one faction is pushing Clinton toward a suicidal surrender to Republican priorities (and to be clear, only surrender will suffice to move Republicans toward her) and another is demanding the magical creation of an imaginary progressive consensus”.
When LBJ and Goldwater agreed to keep race out of the campaign: With Trump flailing amid accusations of bigotry, here’s a look at a time when a similarly hyperbole-prone GOP nominee fought to keep racism on the sidelines. Living in L.B.J.’s America: Kevin Baker on how two of his least celebrated accomplishments shaped the battle between Clinton and Trump. This really might be the most important election ever: Usually, the Democratic and Republican candidates share a baseline belief in the American system — not this election season.
