Maybe I am just in intellectual rebellion against vibes-based “analysis,” or maybe I just never thought that there was some real sense that there was some moment in which the broader culture thought Trump was “cool,” but I am finding the Ezra Klein column that James Joyner wrote about today to be more than a bit hollow. I never thought Trump won the 2024 election because he was giving the country what they wanted, save in the sense that he was the one on the ballot challenging an incumbent party that was out of favor. Things like inflation and pandemic frustration were more important than any Trump vibes. I realize that this is a bit reductive, but it is still the basic truth.
If we set aside vibes and talk about the attention economy and the cool social media output of Newsom and Mamdani, it is not a surprise that a president is less popular a year after their election. It is kind of a thing.
Moreover, it is not a surprise that a lame duck president is finding his influence starting to wane. Still, like I (and James) noted the other day, let’s not forget how much damage he has done and will continue to do, vibes or no.
But when we assess where we have been and where we are going, I can’t help but notice that the Vice President, who is vying to lead the party, is out there stoking white grievance.
As is the world’s richest man.
Back to Vance, we also have demonizing and lying about “the left.”
Note to mention xenophobia.
I may be missing Klein’s point, but even if the “Trump vibe shift is dead,” the next stage of American “conservatism,” and therefore national politics, is looking pretty bleak. Maybe all of this collapses in on itself, but when I think about how much open racism there has been in Repulican discourse of late, combined with things like the Young Republicans Nazi chat or things like the following (source), I am quite concerned with where the vibes are going, shall we say.
