Lee Atwater

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  5/6/2021
  

  The Secret Papers of Lee Atwater, Who Invented the Scurrilous Tactics That Trump Normalized

  by Jane Mayer

  "In many ways, his memoir suggests that Atwater’s tactics were a bridge between the old Republican Party of the Nixon era, when dirty tricks were considered a scandal, and the new Republican Party of Donald Trump, in which lies, racial fearmongering, and winning at any cost have become normalized."

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• SOURCE: Made By History at The Washington Post
  8/24/2020
  

  Trump’s Convention May Be The Culmination Of Decades Of Republicans’ Dirty Politics

  by Julian Zelizer

  The low-road tactics have proved to be effective. They play to the worst fears of voters, and they have succeeded in negatively shaping how parts of the electorate view Democratic candidates. 

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  8/22/2020
  

  A Glimmer of Hope for Trump? How Bush Mounted a Comeback in 1988

  It will surprise no one if Trump pursues the sort of negative race-baiting campaign that George H.W. Bush used to rally after trailing Michael Dukakis in the summer. What remains to be seen will be if Trump can convincingly portray Biden as a greater danger to the public. 

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• SOURCE: AlterNet
  8/12/2020
  

  Trump Won’t Win by Doubling-Down on his Racist Appeals but the Right’s Open Bigotry Comes at a Cost

  A desperate Donald Trump appears to be pulling back the curtains on direct appeals to white racists. The strategy's success or failure may determine whether these appeals return as a core part of American political rhetoric.