We talk to social psychologist, Arlie Russell Hochschild, who helps us get inside the head, and more importantly, the heart of the typical Trump voter. Also, Bill Curry gives us his take on the way forward for the Democratic Party. And, Ralph responds to your questions about last week’s show on the Electoral College.
Arlie Russell Hochschild is a professor emeritus of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Hochschild has long focused on the human emotions, which underlie moral beliefs, practices, and social life generally. She is the author of nine books including, most recently Strangers In Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, which is based on intensive interviews she conducted over the last five years with Tea Party enthusiasts in Louisiana. Strangers in Their Own Land is a finalist for the National Book Award.
Bill Curry writes for Salon and The Daily Beast. Mr. Curry was a White House counselor to President Clinton and a two-time Democratic nominee for governor of Connecticut. He is at work on a book on President Obama and the politics of populism.
“All the techniques of these elections – the micro-targeting and the messaging and the polling and the focus-grouping – it’s not how progressive change happens. By adopting these modern marketing techniques, we necessarily defeat our purpose. When you break the whole country into tiny niche markets to get just the right message, you’ve given up on the possibility of selling a vision of systemic change, which is the only way systemic change ever happens.”
Bill Curry, political columnist and former counsel to President Clinton
Inside the Mind of a Trump Voter