Publisher Description
Bill Schneider, former CNN senior political analyst, takes us inside the voting booth to show how Americans vote and why their votes sometimes seem to make no practical sense.
In the 1960s, a rift developed between the Old America and the New America that resulted in a populist backlash that ultimately elected Donald Trump in 2016.
Schneider describes an American populism that is economically progressive and culturally conservative. Liberals are attacked as cultural elitists (“limousine liberals”), and conservatives as economic elitists (“country club conservatives”). Trump is the complete populist package. He embraces social populism (anti-immigrant), economic populism (anti-free trade), and isolationism (“America First”).
Standoff examines a number of hard-fought elections to show us how we got to Trump. He asserts the power of public opinion. He points to the public that draws the line on abortion and affirmative action. He shows why an intense minority cancels a majority on gun control, immigration, small government, and international interests.
Standoff tells us why fifty years of presidential contests have often been confounding. It takes us inside to watch how and why Americans pull the lever, how they choose their issues and select their leaders. It is usually values that trump economics. Standoff is required reading for an understanding of the 2016 election and the political future.
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“A thoughtful account of how American politics have changed from the 1960s to the age of Trump. . . . He makes a strong case that voters have increasingly placed values over interests and that public opinion often rules . . . a detailed examination of recent presidential elections studded with sharp observations drawn from the author’s extensive reporting career . . . A good choice for political junkies.”
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Kirkus Reviews
About Bill Schneider
Bill Schneider, a leading US political analyst, is a professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. He has been a visiting professor at UCLA, Brandeis University, and Boston College. He is the author of Standoff and coauthor, with Seymour Martin Lipset, of The Confidence Gap. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, Politico, Reuters, and National Journal. He was CNN’s senior political analyst from 1990 to 2009.
About Arthur Morey
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.