First off, it is probably the case that Sanders’s very narrow defeat in Kentucky ends any hope of his nomination. Had he swept all the remaining contests, the delegate count wouldn’t have made any difference. The Superdelegates would have switched in the service of victory in November. Even now, Democrats interested in winning should hugely prefer Bernie. He’s running much better than Hillary Clinton in the polls against Trump. Surprisingly (to me), Trump is very competitive for now against her.
I expect the Trump bubble to be popped, as I’ve said before. If the election were next week, it would be close. But Trump is bound to wither, I think, in the face of the multifaceted attack to come. Remember, however, I’ve been wrong (who hasn’t?) on Trump before.
I gather that the possibility that Trump might win — or at least not be swamped — is one reason many Republicans are against the third-party option. It is also one reason among many that nobody is stepping up to be the candidate of the double nevers.
So much for that depressing stuff.
The next issue of America’s leading journal of political science – Perspectives on Political Science – will feature a new “contemporary currents” section. The first two contributions are really magnificent. here’s Peter Minowitz on everything you’d want to know about the content and significance of the demands of the current wave of campus protestors. And there’s our Carl Scott’s authoritative account of the thoughtful message on religion, politics, Christianity, and America in the Coen brothers’ epic film Hail, Caesar. These are far from mere opinion pieces; they are weighty essays that will stand the test of time.
I’m looking for other contributions that, as the say, display the intersection of what’s going on now with time timeless or at least enduring issues. We’re very flexible on length and format, although not on quality.
One possible topic: Yuval Levin’s excellent and hugely timely The Fractured Republic has just been published. Yuval’s view is that American political reflection today is deformed by the wrong kind of nostalgia. That means, of course, there’s a right kind or rigorously selective nostalgia that might properly inform our reflections.
Trump’s “make America great again” is obviously misinformed in so many ways, but it is an understandable reaction to the failures of recent administrations. Sanders’s schemes are just reactionary fantasies — or depend for their plausibility on perceptions of economic reality that either never existed or don’t exist anymore. And it turns out that not as many Americans as I might have guessed are nostalgic for the peace and prosperity we had the last time a Clinton was president.
So I am especially interested in reflections on Yuval’s important book, on nostalgia as a politial tool, and on the cluelessness of both Democrats and Republicans these days. But other ideas are welcome too, including those on the pop-culture front.