Category Archives: Recent American Politics

Popular Thinking in Political Campaigns

What We Can Learn from Fake News

FakeNewsAn earlier version of this article appeared in History News Network, July 23, 2017, http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/166400 , and in The Huffington Post, July 25, 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-we-can-learn-from-fake-news_us_597764e7e4b0940189700cd0

False facts provide clues about the stories that make the fakery seem true.

Fake news has both producers and consumers.  Stories like the one about the Pope endorsing Donald Trump for president are eye catching, but fake news can really only generate much power when a lot of people believe it.  Without that, it is just so much sputtering, and can even backfire on the perpetrators by smearing them with a reputation for dishonesty or for being just plain crazy.  Continue reading →

Advertisements
Standard
Campaign 2016, Uncategorized

2016 Election Quake: Ten Expected Surprises

See all Ten Expected Surprises as published in History News Network, November 20, 2016. Now that may just be too many surprises at once!  Here below, you can take these surprises in chunks, 5 at a time….  See two essays:

1-Election Quake I: Five Expected Surprises in Cultural Trends and the Media

2-Election Quake II: Five Lessons from Recent History

Standard
Campaign 2016

Constant Growth: The Elephant (and the Donkey) in the Living Room

Constant economic growth, constantly supported even when unhealthy, is the unquestioned goal of both major parties.  Few stop to ask about the ill effects of growth or the merits of maintaining good conditions when we get them (did we really get improvement when that store moved to the margins of town leaving a hulking building downtown?).  The unhealthy side effects of constant growth have become the elephant (and the donkey) in the living room–the unasked question for both Republicans and Democrats.

A shorter version of this essay was published as “An Economy That Grows Anger,” in the Huffington Post, September 24, 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-j-croce/an-economy-that-grows-ang_b_12173172.html

Scroll down to see a revised version of this essay, expanded with more economic data and historical examples, and published as  “Both Parties Back Economic Growth–But Are They Wrong?” in History News Network, October 2, 2016, http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/163991.

In this election, we’ve got a well-informed Democrat defending a crazy system and a crazy-sounding Republican brashly calling for undisclosed changes.  Consider the sources of the craziness—consider an economy that can’t stay healthy with constant growth.  In medicine, that’s called cancer…. Continue reading….

Standard
Campaign 2004, Uncategorized

Bush Achieves Goal In Spite of Criticism

President George W. Bush has received an unprecedented amount of criticism, and yet he won re-election handily.  How’d that happen?

A majority of Americans do not share his application of Christian traditions to a millennial vision of US mission; a majority of Americans believe that, while government cannot solve all social problems, it can give important direction, which contrasts sharply with Bush’s strong anti-government stance.

The Bush campaign put less emphasis on reasons to vote for him than on attempts to stimulate feelings based on his tough talk and reputation for decisiveness.  As a result, many voters for Bush will likely get four years of policies they don’t want….  Read whole essay here….

Standard
Campaign 2000, Uncategorized

The Personal Is Now Political: Let’s Decide If It’s Presidential

“The Personal Is Political” was a slogan from the 1960s.  Women maintained that choices about their private lives were shot through with political consequences; African Americans presented the raw force of political power in every private act of segregation; and environmentalism became popular from awareness that private acts of consumption and waste have large public consequences.

Ever since the 1960s, there has been increased media attention on the private lives of public figures.  Democrat Jimmy Carter was the first president to appeal based on his folksiness, and Republican Ronald Reagan was even more adept in the arts of the personable leader.

In this campaign, the “compassionate conservatism” of Republican George W. Bush is a combination of conservative policies and a personable promise that he is a nice person.  By contrast, Democrat Al Gore has a lot of expertise and experience, but little personal flair.

Back to you, Dear Voters: the personal has become political.  Now is it presidential?…  Read whole essay here….

Standard