Opinion | The Real Reason Trump and Vance Hate Being Called ‘Weird’

The problem for Democrats is that any observation of this second truth—a truth that seems likely to darken and expand in the aftermath of yesterday’s attack—will now be condemned as rancorous and immoral—or worse, as an incitement to further political violence. Every necessary criticism of Trump’s authoritarianism, fondness for dictators, fraudulen... See more

[Trump] cobbled together a coalition of the wacky and weird. But being weird in America is kind of normal. It’s a very weird place. A lot of Americans belong to cults or odd religious sects, practice alternative medicine, participate in strange fandoms, wild fads, and peculiar enthusiasms. And with the decline of mass culture and the fragmentation ... See more

This contrast between the interactive content that “people crave” and the “traditional media” that has become outmoded has taken on a political cast since the election. In a New Yorker item, Joshua Rothman argues that “Democrats preach while Republicans riff” — i.e. Democrats operate like the nattering nabobs of traditional media while Republicans

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On Sunday, I wrote about a remarkable CBS/YouGov poll that helped me understand why Trump is both politically resilient and politically vulnerable. In short, a majority of Americans like many of Trump’s objectives, but they don’t like his methods. Democrats win when they contest Trump’s methods, but they lose when they contest at least some of his ... See more