Advertisement

The Left, Right And Center Of 2016 Politics

47:36
Download Audio
Resume

Big political observers David Frum and Peter Beinart on America’s Left and Right now and the forces in play for 2016.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign event, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) | Republican Presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks during a campaign stop at the public library in Onawa, Iowa, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a campaign event, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) | Republican Presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas speaks during a campaign stop at the public library in Onawa, Iowa, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

We are in it now. Twenty-sixteen. The year of the election. And the politics will just get louder. My guests today are listening to the big political movement behind the daily reports from the campaign trail. Conservative David Frum says the GOP is cracking up, in revolt with itself.  Its base versus its elites. Liberal Peter Beinart says that while Donald Trump pounds the podium, the country’s political center is going powerfully left. This hour On Point,  to start 2016, a big look at the country’s political mega-trends now.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

David Frum, senior editor at the Atlantic. Former speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Chairman of the British thinktank, Policy Exchange. Author of "Why Romney Lost" and "The Right Man." (@davidfrum)

Peter Beinart, contributing editor at the Atlantic and National Journal. Associate professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York. Senior fellow at the New America Foundation. Author of "The Good Fight" and "The Crisis Of Zionism." (@PeterBeinart)

From Tom’s Reading List

The Atlantic: The Great Republican Revolt -- "The angriest and most pessimistic people in America are the people we used to call Middle Americans. Middle-class and middle-aged; not rich and not poor; people who are irked when asked to press 1 for English, and who wonder howwhite male became an accusation rather than a description."

The Atlantic: Why America Is Moving Left — "The more I examined the evidence, the more I realized that the current moment looks like a mirror image of the late ’60s and early ’70s. The resemblances are clear, but their political significance has been turned upside down. There is a backlash against the liberalism of the Obama era. But it is louder than it is strong. Instead of turning right, the country as a whole is still moving to the left."

New York Times: Donald Trump Is Also an Outlier in Political Science — "Donald Trump has confounded politicians, pundits and political scientists as he runs a most unconventional — and so far successful — campaign to win the Republican presidential nomination. Here’s the way we think these things are supposed to play out: Party leaders shape and guide the nomination process."

This program aired on January 7, 2016.

Advertisement

More from On Point

Listen Live
Close