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Looking For America In 2016

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With guest host Ray Suarez.

Two veteran reporters traveled the country talking to Americans about hope, anger and the presidential candidates who speak their minds. And we listen.

Donald Trump supporters leave a campaign rally at the Dubuque Regional Airport in Dubuque, Iowa, on Jan. 30. Trump came in second in the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
Donald Trump supporters leave a campaign rally at the Dubuque Regional Airport in Dubuque, Iowa, on Jan. 30. Trump came in second in the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)

Day after day you hear about a country that’s angry, short on hope. unsure about the future and that those sentiments are driving this presidential primary season. Two Washington Post reporters hit the road to test those propositions — criss-crossing the country and listening to what all kinds of people had to say about how the country, and the race, looks to them. This hour On Point, reporter’s notebook: "Looking for America."
-- Ray Suarez

Guests

Jennifer Epstein, Bloomberg Politics correspondent, traveling with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. (@jeneps)

Robert Samuels, political reporter for the Washington Post. Co-author, with David Maraniss, of the four-part "Looking for America" series. (@newsbysamuels)

David Maraniss, associate editor at the Washington Post. Co-author, with Robert Samuels, of the four-part "Looking for America" series. Winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize. Author of many books, including "Once In a Great City." (@davidmaraniss)

From The Reading List

Bloomberg PoliticsThis Election's Big Question: What Makes America Great? — "The whole country is never in repose; an energy runs through it that you won't find anywhere else, and a sense of constant, habitual competition is ever-present. This is the biggest economy in the world, and it feels like it. It feels like a great nation."

Washington Post: The great unsettling — "So much anger out there in America. Anger at Wall Street. Anger at Muslims. Anger at trade deals. Anger at Washington. Anger at police shootings of young black men. Anger at President Obama. Anger at Republican obstructionists. Anger about political correctness. Anger about the role of big money in campaigns. Anger about the poisoned water of Flint, Mich. Anger about deportations. Anger about undocumented immigrants. Anger about a career that didn’t go as expected. Anger about a lost way of life. Mob anger at groups of protesters in their midst. Specific anger and undefined anger and even anger about anger."

POLITICO: Trump and Cruz shift to trench warfare — "The Republican primary shifted to a new phase — trench warfare — as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz each won one state in Tuesday’s contests and dug in for an increasingly ugly battle that will now likely drag through the final primary in California, if not beyond."

More Photos From The Washington Post Series

People wait in line to hear Bernie Sanders speak at the Politics and Eggs breakfast in Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 5, ahead of the state’s Feb. 9 presidential primary. (Charles Ommanney/The Washington Post)
People wait in line to hear Bernie Sanders speak at the Politics and Eggs breakfast in Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 5, ahead of the state’s Feb. 9 presidential primary. (Charles Ommanney/The Washington Post)
Workers at Detroit Manufacturing Systems, an auto-parts company in Detroit, await a visit by Hillary Clinton on March 4. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)
Workers at Detroit Manufacturing Systems, an auto-parts company in Detroit, await a visit by Hillary Clinton on March 4. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

This program aired on March 23, 2016.

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