Ronald Brownstein
Brownstein, a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is a senior editor at The Atlantic & a senior political analyst for CNN.
Last synced from Twitter 735d ago
Trump Goes All In on Racism
The president’s tweets are an invitation to a racial conflict that pits citizen against citizen, under the calculation that racism itself is a winning political strategy.
1
Ronald Brownstein
Wow this is spot on from @GrahamDavidA on the progression from Lee Atwater to Donald Trump and I say that w/the advantage of actually having interviewed Atwater many times.
40h
The Most Critical Argument Democrats Will Have in 2020
Expect way more fighting over health care before the next set of presidential debates.
3
Ronald Brownstein
Among Democrats in new @CNN poll, "A system that banned private insurance drew support from just 33% of whites, 26% of nonwhites, 27% of men, 32% of women; 37% of self-id liberals, 24% mod/cons."
13d
The Patriots of the Soccer Pitch
The U.S. women’s national soccer team didn’t just win a match against England—they’re making the case for a different kind of patriotism.
1
Ronald Brownstein
"Trump’s blood-and-soil spectacle on the Mall is the culmination of an era in which the right has successfully hijacked patriotism for electoral gain, branding liberals and urbanites as inimical to real America."
15d
Megan Rapinoe Digs In After Trump Criticism: ‘I Stand by the Remarks’
The United States soccer star urged her teammates to “think hard” about sharing their platform with the White House after the World Cup.
1
Ronald Brownstein
Rapinoe has “labeled herself “a walking protest” of Mr. Trump, a president whom she labeled “sexist,” “misogynistic,” “small-minded,” “racist” and “not a good person.”
20d
Democrats Diverge on Economy and Immigration in First Debate
Elizabeth Warren set the tone for the party’s progressive wing, but others among the 10 candidates were more cautious, and proposed solutions sometimes broke along ideological lines.
3
Ronald Brownstein
“But her unabashed willingness to terminate private health care alarmed some members of her party who fear that embracing a single-payer system would hand Republicans a political weapon in a country where nearly 60 percent of people are on private plans.”
20d
The Biggest Obstacle to Trump’s Victory in 2020
There may be an unprecedented level of discontent with the president among voters satisfied with the economy.
3
Ronald Brownstein
In his announcement rally Tuesday, Trump again stressed a problem he doesn’t have, mobilizing his base, at the expense of exacerbating the problem he does have: alienating voters satisfied with the economy but alienated by his behavior. My take
27d
4
Ronald Brownstein
Think Trump behavior doesn’t matter? In 04, W. Bush, as the incumbent, won about 90% of voters who called economy excellent or good. In 12 Obama did too. But in latest @QuinnipiacPoll Trump drew only 51% vs Biden w/voters who grade economy that way
27d
Brace for a Voter-Turnout Tsunami
Even with a surge in overall participation, white working-class voters could still remain decisive in the 2020 election.
Democrats Learned the Wrong Lesson From Clinton’s Impeachment
It didn’t actually cost the GOP all that much.
1
Ronald Brownstein
In Jan 2001, 2 years after House Rs defied public opinion to impeach Clinton, the GOP held the WH, House & initially the Senate. “Having gone through all that, I think the Dems are way too skittish on impeachment," says @matthewjdowd, a top GWB aide in 00
41d
Tech Giants Amass a Lobbying Army for an Epic Washington Battle
Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, facing the growing possibility of antitrust action and legislation to rein in their power, are spending freely to gain influence and access.
1
Ronald Brownstein
“Last month, the Internet Association, which represents Amazon, Facebook and Google, awarded its Internet Freedom Award to Ivanka Trump”
42d
Al Gore's Excellent Timing
The former vice president holds a series of climate presentations amid a rash of floods, droughts, heat waves, and hurricanes
White Women Are Helping States Pass Abortion Restrictions
Their support for Republican officials has been key to the GOP’s strength in the South.
The Democrats’ Age Divide Is Defining the 2020 Primary
Joe Biden’s edge with older voters is his greatest asset so far in the race.
1
Ronald Brownstein
One of the crucial questions in the Democratic primary will be whether Joe Biden can sustain his big early advantage with older voters, @RonBrownstein writes
61d
Republican attacks on state voting-rights victories threaten our democracy
Republican state legislatures are determined to roll back hard-fought historic voting-rights victories and place entirely new roadblocks between citizens and their government.
3
Ronald Brownstein
Important look @ renewed state GOP voter suppression drive: "Democracy has always been a battle...This feels...more like a new permanent state of war, w/one side willing to bust every norm in the service of installing an enduring form of minority rule."
63d
When It Comes to Republican Defectors, Current Crisis Is No Watergate
As history has shown with the Watergate and Iran-contra scandals, such investigations can gain legitimacy only when members of the president’s own party support them.
2
Ronald Brownstein
Former GOP Sen: “He is basically thumbing his nose at Congress, saying I don’t recognize you. I am surprised there aren’t more defenders of the Constitution. If they are willing to submit that to the executive, then they have no business being in office.”
66d
America’s Biggest Newspaper 70 Years Ago Sounded a Lot Like Trump Today
The New York Daily News helped fashion a brand of right-wing populism that the president eventually rode to power.
2
Ronald Brownstein
Terrific look by @matt_pressman at how Trump echoes the mid-20th century right-wing populism-isolationist, xenophobic, racist & anti-elite-that he grew up w/on the pages of the NY Daily News.
67d
Can Democrats Bend Their New Coalition Without Breaking It?
The voters who flipped the House aren’t uniformly on board with an ambitious progressive agenda.
As States Race to Limit Abortions, Alabama Goes Further, Seeking to Outlaw Most of Them
Alabama is advancing a bill to ban most abortions, though exceptions for rape, incest and serious threats to the mother’s health were being considered.
1
Ronald Brownstein
“Alabama’s measure would effectively ban most abortions at every stage of pregnancy, from conception on, and would criminalize the procedure for doctors. A doctor could be charged with a felony, and face up to 99 years in prison”
70d
The Seven Ways Bill Barr Is Misleading the Public
The attorney general’s performance has been catastrophic.
2
Ronald Brownstein
“As I read them, Barr’s public statements on the report reflect at least 7 different layers of substantive misrepresentation, layers which build on 1 another into a dramatic rewriting of the president’s conduct & of Mueller’s findings about the president”
76d
Biden Accelerates the Democratic Fight About the White Working Class
His candidacy is a proxy for the larger question of how the party can best rebuild a winning presidential majority.
1
Ronald Brownstein
Joe Biden's candidacy is a proxy for a major question in the Democratic Party: Can it rebuild a winning presidential majority without white working-class voters? @RonBrownstein reports
76d
1
Ronald Brownstein
Biden's critics on the left target parts of his long record, but more fundamentally many have rejected the idea that Dems should prioritize a nominee who can win back working-class whites vs 1 who can mobilize their new younger/nonwhite/college+ coalition.
76d
1
Ronald Brownstein
Per new analysis of Census data by @ElectProject non-college whites fell to just 39% of all voters in 2018, down sharply from 43% in 2014. Does that mean Ds can stop worrying about them so much? Maybe not.
76d
Where Are the Socially Conservative Women in This Fight?
The American family needs defending and right now men are leading the charge.
1
Ronald Brownstein
In terms of actual GOP voters this just isn’t true: “Dissenters from the feminist line are > likely to be motivated by a libertarian commitment 2 equal treatment of the sexes than a socially conservative commitment to gender roles as an affirmative good”
80d