Seth E. Masket

This is the Worth Knowing live stream, and today, are Republicans about to dump Trump for good? There's been months of talk about the growing likelihood of a blue wave in the midterms, but there's been a lot less talk about what comes next.

When I asked the question about Republicans, what's gonna happen to their whole party, with political scientist Seth Masket two weeks ago, it really struck a nerve both on Substack and on YouTube.

People want to know and wanna think about what comes after the election, and since then the question's only gotten deeper.

We've seen signs of how awkward the post-midterm pivot will be for Republicans and for Democrats.

The surviving interpretations were largely superficial or reactionary.

According to Seth Masket, writing for the Pacific Standard Magazine in 2018, newspapers emphasized Mondale's pledge to raise taxes as well as his supposed prioritization of, quote, "special interests," meaning primarily, of course, people of color, as the reasons for his loss.

It's worth noting that Jesse Jackson had also run for president as a Democrat in 1984, and again in 1988.

Because of his platform orientation towards economic populism, international diplomacy, and civil rights, Jackson was made into somewhat of an avatar for left liberal politics that had simply gone too far.