More Possibilities for Trump 2.0

Here are three lengthy pieces on possible outcomes in a second Trump administration. Bernstein is a political scientist turned political journalist, Moynihan is a Professor of Public Policy, and Karpf is an Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs.

They are all worth a read. Karpf is the most gloomy (but not in a way that is over-the-top, in my view) and Moynihan’s is the most detailed.

FILED UNDER: 2024 Election, US Politics
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a retired Professor of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Paul L. says:

    J6 Insurrection! Convicted Felon! Adjudicated Rapist and Insurrectionist!

  2. CSK says:

    @Paul L.:

    And…?

  3. @CSK: I have decided it is pointless to attempt to decode.

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  4. Kathy says:

    @CSK:

    And I expect the comment you’re replying to will be deleted momentarily.

    1
  5. CSK says:

    @Steven L. Taylor:

    You’re right.

    @Kathy:

    So are you.

  6. gVOR10 says:

    I am struck by the contrast between uncertainty about what Trump will do, or attempt to do, contrasted with the constant, “We don’t know enough about Harris.” We knew she was the centrist Democrat successor to Biden, Obama, and Clinton. That seemed to me sufficient.

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  7. just nutha says:

    @Steven L. Taylor: You’re just coming to realize that now? It must be teacher thing.

    And I can see where I made my mistake now, I limited that impulse to my dealings with students.

  8. CSK says:

    What disturbs me the most about Trump’s upcoming term is that there will be absolutely no adults in the room to restrain him from doing his worst.

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  9. just nutha says:

    @gVOR10: Of course, you being a Democrat plays a role in the sufficiency. For others, being a centrist Democrat might have been a stalling point, and a different set of others was discouraged that she was a centrist Democrat.

    Given the opponent, it probably should have been enough for a majority of Americans but turned not to be–and pretty resoundingly given a opponent who has barely ever pulled above 47%. Even if his lead shrinks as the final tally resolves, it will still be a remarkable rebound for a person who should never have been considered electable.

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  10. just nutha says:

    @CSK: What disturbs me most is the possibility that he will find people capable of effecting the changes Project 2025 promises. Right now, it looks more on the order of an evangelical white supremacy version of proposal like the Green New Deal or other similar wishcasting proposals.

    The people running in Portland pledging to end homelessness by the end of the next year come to mind. Shelter for 10000+ in a year? Doesn’t seem likely. Project 2025? Cut from the same bolt of cloth.

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  11. Jack says:

    I continue to be fascinated by the nearly hysterical worries about Trump.

    We have a track record. In his first term – Economic prosperity, including real wage growth for middle and lower class people. No new material military engagements. A relatively safe homeland. I could go on, but aren’t those crucial? Its an empirical fact.

    And now, all wild eyed speculation: the world is about to end. Opposition imprisoned. Economic doom. Trump in office in perpetuity.

    Do you folks understand how crazed you sound?

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  12. CSK says:

    @just nutha:

    Well, of course. He has Bannon, Vance, Miller, Grenell, Stefanik, etc. on his team.

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  13. CSK says:

    @Jack:

    Not nearly as crazed as the man who proclaimed himself the father of ivf, having just found it what it is minutes before.

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  14. Mister Bluster says:

    @Jack:..I continue to be fascinated by the nearly hysterical worries about Trump.

    Trump’s Family Separation Immigration Policy: How History Could Repeat
    After family separation ended, Trump wanted to bring it back, helping to explain why he continues to defend the policy.
    “Throughout the remainder of his presidency, Trump pushed to relaunch family separations,” reported Caitlin Dickerson,..
    Stephen Miller and others persuaded Sessions and DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to implement a policy of family separation.
    “Trump administration officials insisted for a whole year that family separations weren’t happening,” writes Caitlin Dickerson. “Finally, in the spring of 2018, they announced the implementation of a separation policy with great fanfare—as if one had not already been under way for months.”

    As of February 2023, a DHS task force identified more than 3,924 children separated from their parents during the Trump administration, with nearly 1,000 children still not reunited with their families, reported Reuters. Overall, government records indicate more than 5,500 children were separated during the Trump years.
    Source

    Republican Party of Christian Family Values
    Pastrami, Salami, Baloney!

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  15. Scott says:

    @Jack: Except his economic record was strictly mediocre. Coattails of the 8 years of Obama administration fixing the Great Recession. Massive increase in debt (about 25% of the entire debt since 1783. Ineffective tax cut, the proceeds of which when to dividends and stock buyback. Never exceeded 2.9% growth.

    But did the brilliant Democratic campaign strategists say boo about it. No, they let Trump’s puffery go unanswered.

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  16. Mister Bluster says:

    @Paul L.:
    @Jack:

    Don’t forget Hang Mike Pence!

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  17. Steve V says:

    @Scott: Yeah he inherited a strong economy in 2016 and didn’t have to do anything. Just like now he’s inheriting a strong economy, and all he has to do is do nothing. But he spends all his time saying the economy was dogsh!t before he came along, and his acolytes lap it up. It looks like he’ll try to do something anyway, and odds are that what he tries will make the economy worse.

    Why Republicans have any credibility on the economy continues to mystify me.

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  18. CSK says:

    @Mister Bluster:

    And: “We’re going to find Nancy Pelosi and a put a bullet through that bitch’s brain.”

    Talk about crazed.

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  19. @Jack:

    1. He fomented an insurrection and did nothing but watch on TV for hours, including siccing the crowd on his VP.

    2. Family separation as policy.

    3. He did use DOJ to investigate some of his political opponents. For example: John Kerry.

    4. A botched and irresponsible response to Covid.

    5. Truly disturbing rhetoric about violence.

    That’s just a couple of big ones. You think we sound hysterical. You sound dismissive of obvious red flags. J6 alone should be enough.

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  20. Beth says:

    @Jack:

    I’m asking this in good faith. What if you’re wrong and we’re right? What happens then?

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  21. JohnSF says:

    @Jack:

    No new material military engagements.

    No new military engagements is not necessarily a good thing.
    See European history 1933-1938.
    As for the economics, Trump was president in period of relative global economic stability.
    Biden, otoh, had to cope with the inflationary aftermath of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and trying to decouple US from China in key sectors.
    All of which, of course, had price and demand impacts.

    This is about on the level of saying “Coolidge was a brilliant President! Nothing went wrong at all!”.
    Or “Baldwin: total f@cking genius”

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  22. @just nutha:

    It must be teacher thing.

    The impulse to teach is real.

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