'Self-segregation by political affiliation is spreading'
'Travel outside your political tribe? Many are saying no thanks.'
Patti Waldmeir at the Financial Times
President Donald Trump's "policies are scaring off foreign visitors, and domestically, politics increasingly dictates where and how we choose to have fun in the U.S.," says Patti Waldmeir. This is "increasingly deterring international visitors to the U.S.," and politics has had a "dramatic political effect on visitors from Canada, whose citizens are boycotting U.S. visits." Politics "affects not just where Americans travel, but how." More "political silos are the last thing we need in Trump's America."
'The myth of the Gen Z red wave'
Jean M. Twenge at The Atlantic
If Gen Z is "durably to the right of previous generations — a significant part of the Democratic coalition is gone," says Jean M. Twenge. But the "best available evidence suggests that the youth-vote shift in 2024 was more a one-off event than an ideological realignment." Voting "for a Republican candidate isn't the same as identifying as conservative." Young voters have "not become more likely to identify as conservative or hold broadly conservative political opinions."
'Are Blacks and American Jews still political allies?'
Juan Williams at The Hill
We "need to talk about antisemitism. And by 'we,' I mean Black people," says Juan Williams. Fears of "being charged with antisemitism has also kept many Black and Latino members of Congress out of the debate over U.S. support for Israel," but "criticism of Israeli policy is not necessarily based on antisemitism." A "Black cynic could be forgiven for thinking Trump pretends to care about protecting Jews as a pretext for pursuing an agenda that is antithetical to Jewish values."
'America is on the verge of catastrophe in the Middle East'
Andrew P. Miller at Foreign Affairs
The prospect of an Iran war has, "understandably and rightly, evoked painful memories of the Iraq war for many Americans," says Andrew P. Miller. There is "misplaced confidence in the ease with which an adversarial regime can be toppled and an almost blind faith that a successor government will prove better than its predecessor." Contrary to "Netanyahu's claims, the killing of the supreme leader is unlikely to precipitate the collapse of the Islamic Republic by itself."