Rusty Reno explains why so many middle class whites are having a populist moment:
The relative success of Trump and Sanders shows that they’re rebelling against both left-leaning and right-leaning political establishments. That’s not because of identity politics. It’s because they’re in the best position to see the new character of our leadership class.
More:
This Bloomberg News story is emblematic of our time, and what it says about the relationships among the GOP leadership, religious conservatives, gays and lesbians, and Wall Street. And it is critically important for conservative Christians to read it and understand what it means.
The story is about Rep. Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican who chairs a powerful House subcommittee. More:
With Iowa in the rearview mirror, New Hampshire dead ahead, and miles and miles of nominating contests to go, the Brookings Institution’s Elaine Kamarck has performed a valuable service by getting into the weeds, describing the mechanics of how America picks its presidential nominees, and explaining how we got here. Primary Politics leads the reader to conclude that process is policy.
Freddy Gray comments on Rubio’s bad performance Saturday in the eighth Republican presidential debate:
It was awkward. In total, he said the same line four times. He didn’t look like an election winner, to put it mildly. As the debate went on, Rubio regained his footing. He finished strongly with a passionate defence of his opposition to abortion. But by then it was too late. He had had his shocker. He had shown once again what a deeply flawed candidate he is. He may look polished, but he is not accomplished. He isn’t comfortable thinking on his feet.
Daniel DePetris said last week that Paul’s exit from the race would hurt the quality of the foreign policy debate in the primaries: