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Articles by Brad Todd
You Think You’re Old?
Today’s article is a cross-post for both my Substack, Reasonably Happy, and a guest post on The What For by my friend, Brad Todd who is recovering from some pretty serious surgery this week. I wish him a full and speedy recovery. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is related to mortality. The other day, I was doing research for an upcoming podcast interview with a 29-year-old author.
Drink the Wine
We bought our house in the same year I discovered Piemonte, and that was fortuitous. The house came with a walk-in wine cellar and the family-owned vineyards strewn across the rolling Italian hills from LaMorra to Serralunga D’Alba provided a learnable collection of producers to fill it up. It is a good thing I have enjoyed the chore of curating this wine because I will not get to enjoy drinking it.
You Break It, You Buy It
Donald Trump is a gambler. All real estate developers are gamblers, and casino builders have a special kind of jones for risk. But nothing Trump ever did in Atlantic City was as risky as the dice he rolled in Texas this week. Facing a midterm climate already tilting toward Democrats who want to impeach, convict, bankrupt and jail him, Trump decided to bet the jury box on pique.
The deportations that swing voters actually want
The deportations that swing voters actually want (washingtonpost.com) The deportations that swing voters actually want By Brad Todd 2026013016460300 In 2016, I coined a phrase that became a template for understanding the Trump political phenomenon: The media, to its detriment, takes him literally but not seriously, while his voters do the reverse. Now, President Donald Trump's own Department of Homeland Security has made the same mistake with his most important voters — swing voters.
To Nuke or Not To Nuke
The worst thing about secret weapons is they are usually two-edge swords. President Donald Trump’s high motor for urgency was key to his conquest of the conservative movement and his remarkable political comeback, but it is also his, and Republicans’, biggest risk right now. Trump’s first action after Tuesday’s election was to call Republican Senators to a mandatory meeting at the White House to talk about getting rid of the filibuster.
Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland
Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland Journalist Zito (The Great Revolt) offers a vivid firsthand account of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at his Butler, Pa., rally and uses the experience to delve into the political importance of western Pennsylvania.
Sen. Lummis on Strategic Bitcoin Reserves, Sen. Risch looks to cut $40m agency, and more!
INTERVIEW: Sen.Cynthia Lummis details why America needs a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Heard on the Hill EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Jim Risch aims to eliminate $40 million agency, give its powers to State: “Good riddance.” EXCLUSIVE: ICE continues drumbeat of arresting illegals, including rapists, murderers SCOOP: Congressional Republicans unite to set Trump policies in stone K-STREET, 10,000 FEET:Meta to roll out its own Community Notes, acknowledges that fact-checkers failed OPINIONATED: Rep.
The man behind Ireland’s new populist party
When the Taoiseach Simon Harris called a snap election for November 29, Ireland’s electricity board asked political parties not to put election posters on telegraph poles. They might as well have asked them to take the time off on holiday.
Nigel Farage believes that he can handle Trump
Nigel Farage was on gregarious and ebullient form at our Americano US election event in Westminster last night. He confidently assured the audience that Donald Trump is going to win. He repeatedly mocked the British Conservative and Labour parties.
The EU are experts in destabilizing democracy
Moldovans have voted “yes” by a wafer-thin majority to joining the European Union in a referendum that was held amid “unprecedented interference” by foreign powers. That is the view of the EU, whose spokesman, Peter Stano, accused Russia and its proxies of “aiming to destabilize the democratic processes in the Republic of Moldova.” The EU and its proxies know a thing or two about destabilizing the democratic processes.
Nigel Farage blasts UK ambassador picks for Trump 2.0
It’s the question all of Westminster is asking. If Donald Trump wins, who will be our next man in Washington? One person definitely not in the running is Nigel Farage, longtime friend and ally of the Republican president. At The Spectator’s Americano event last night, the Clacton member of parliament told host Freddy Gray that he definitely will not become the new British ambassador, saying: Clearly I’ve decided to get back into elected politics, so I’m off the table.
Election night plans… soirée or flee?
You can’t teach the Big Dog new tricks… Bill Clinton cemented his reputation as the Harris campaign’s least helpful surrogate this week in an appearance where he branded Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Arizona, “someone who is physically attractive.” “Bill Clinton has officially turned into every other married man over the age of sixty-five in Scottsdale — embarrassing themselves by publicly hitting on women thirty-three years their junior,” a Lake staffer told Cockburn.
Welcome to Kamala’s Word Salad City
Welcome to Thunderdome, or as David Axelrod calls it, Word Salad City. Kamala Harris’s closing argument played out in a CNN town hall last night, and it wasn’t much of an argument at all. On question after question, Harris reverted to talking points that often had little or nothing to do with the query posed to her. On the border? No answer on why the administration took so long to act. On taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal migrants? I was a prosecutor. On a border wall?
Can Kamala Harris answer a single question?
It’s official. Donald Trump is “like Hitler” and Kamala Harris — even though she does “pray everyday, sometimes twice a day,” can’t seem to answer questions. Her “joyful” campaign took a confusing turn in her CNN town hall in Pennsylvania Wednesday night. She opened with an attack on Donald Trump, in answer to Anderson Cooper’s question about John Kelly’s claims.
Austria’s far-right Freedom Party is being kept out of power
Austria’s mainstream politicians are combining to ensure that the winners of last month’s general elections, the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) are kept firmly out of power.
Leaked files from Labour-linked group reveal plans to attack Elon Musk's Twitter
Donald Trump’s campaign has submitted an official complaint accusing Labour of breaking US electoral law over the secondment of volunteers, just days after Nigel Farage accused Labour of “election interference” after party advisers headed stateside to canvass for Kamala Harris. Now leaked documents thought to have originated from a Labour-linked group suggest the lefty lot may also be looking to attack Elon Musk’s Twitter as part of their pro-Kamala efforts.
Populism will win the 2024 election
The election is less than two weeks away and early voting has begun, but we already know the winner. It’s populism. Unlike every other presidential election this century, in 2024 we’re watching a campaign in which both parties’ nominees are running on explicitly populist platforms. As a result, no matter who wins, they’ll form a government with an agenda and mandate different from the one Washington’s status quo corporatist, globalists and lobbyists prefer.
Populism will win the 2024 election
The election is less than two weeks away and early voting has begun, but we already know the winner. It’s populism. Unlike every other presidential election this century, in 2024 we’re watching a campaign in which both parties’ nominees are running on explicitly populist platforms. As a result, no matter who wins, they’ll form a government with an agenda and mandate different from the one Washington’s status quo corporatist, globalists and lobbyists prefer.
Op-Ed: Brad Todd: What Kamala Harris’s actions admit she cannot do
Kamala Harris gave away the election on September 29 — you can write it down. Since her palace coup ousted Joe Biden following his addled debate debacle, Harris has brazenly positioned herself as a change agent in a change election. But what’s holding her back is a sense that she has neither the strength nor the political quick-twitch muscle to be a dexterous Commander in Chief — traits even President Donald Trump’s detractors, at least the sane ones, readily attribute to the Orange One.
Hunters laugh off the Harris-Walz campaign effort to win their vote
Avid outdoorsmen are slamming a new political coalition formed by the Harris-Walz campaign aimed at winning their vote in the 2024 presidential election. “Hunters and anglers want to support Harris-Walz as much as the fish and game want to be eaten,” one Maryland-based hunter who recently bagged a state record bear chuckled to The Spectator. A newsletter from Amber Athey bringing you stories from the front lines of the culture wars.
Opinion | On Father’s Day, I also honor the blessings my grandfather passed on
Brad Todd is a public affairs and political campaign consultant, and co-author, with Salena Zito, of “The Great Revolt.” I taught my 14-year-old son to shave recently, and it took me back to the Norelco electric razor with rotating blades that my grandfather gave me when I was his age. My mother’s dad was just 44 years old when I was born. By then, he was a master of his strengths and certain of his future as he hit middle age. I got the best 25 years of his life.
Opinion | The GOP’s Senate Opportunity
Republicans long ago earned the nickname “the stupid party,” and we’re threatening to prove it again. Democrats haven’t been this vulnerable in the U.S. Senate in a decade, yet GOP donors and our Washington geniuses seem to be focusing on a shrinking number of seats. It’s not too late to correct course. Long-term control of the Supreme Court might depend on it. The 100-member Senate is divided into three classes of 33 or 34 members each, and every two years one class’s members face re-election.
The Will to Provide: Celebrating Fatherhood on Father’s Day
An 18-year-old was hammering tacks in a new roof when he heard the voice of a man on the street saying a local hosiery mill was hiring. A day laborer, he took a chance and climbed off that roof — into a steady blue-collar job that empowered him to form and feed a family. Forty-five years later, his son was trying college for the second time, attending accounting lectures all day while working full time in the plant on evening and midnight shift. He slept in his car between classes.
It's not about Trump: Jason Miyares keeps a local focus in Virginia attorney general race
WINCHESTER, Virginia — A few months after the Republicans lost the 2012 presidential election, then-party Chairman Reince Priebus ordered up a report that told him what he already knew: The GOP’s position on immigration was killing them, and they needed a better message.
A political ad-maker's journey into what's wrong and right with health care
Today, two surgeons will operate on a tumor just millimeters away from the brain I use to feed my family. The path to this has made much of what I do as a political ad-maker real and relevant — and convinced me of the changes we do and do not need in American health care.
How Bloomberg And Bernie Used Campaign Finance To Hack Democracy
There’s a crisis in our democracy. One of our national parties has been hijacked by a narcissistic billionaire interloper with a history of racist policies and misogynistic rhetoric and a devious plan to legally rig the election. I’m not talking about the GOP. It’s the self-styled “progressive” party held hostage, and the signature on the ransom note is Michael Bloomberg’s.
How Bloomberg And Bernie Used Campaign Finance To Hack Democracy
There's a fair chance Democrats' presidential race will be down to just two candidates with the resources to compete in March's pricey primaries.
The 'Obamaified' Democratic Party Bets on Globalism in 2020
The 'Obamaified' Democratic Party Bets on Globalism in 2020 As fixated as we are on whether Trump, Biden or anyone else wins next year, the history that's being made in this campaign is the curing of the cement around of the realignment that gave us 2016. Read Full Article »
Brad Todd: Biden bets on globalism - look at the political forces fueling this strategy
In parliamentary elections in our motherland, the United Kingdom, nearly two-thirds of voters chose nationalist parties. Nationalist conservatives chose the Brexiteering Tories, while nationalist liberals chose the Scottish separatist party. Meanwhile, on our shores, the leading Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, is pursuing a perpendicular strategy, assuming the tide of globalism will well up enough to wash him home.
The Great Revolt
“Salena Zito is unique: a truth-telling reporter who found the America that elected Donald Trump. She listened to them. Understands them. Respects them. Not only did she get the election right, but by employing the lost art of shoe-leather journalism, she uncovered an amazing national political realignment that was—and still is—completely invisible to the Wizards of Smart who inhabit our distant capital. Whenever I see her byline, I stop and read. I know it will be that good. You should, too.
The Great Revolt enters a new phase: How the populist uprising of 2016 will reverberate in 2020
WESTBY, WISCONSIN — In a country increasingly engaged in national politics and divided, the next 12 months may feel like 12 years. Voters in both trenches are eager to vote, convinced not only of victory but also of vindication.
Sens. Hawley & Scott Cast Light on Republican Party's Future | RealClearPolitics
The fusion of populism and conservatism as a workable, ideological political movement is emerging from two new senators: Rick Scott and Josh Hawley.
Two Brand-New Senators Cast Light On The GOP’s Post-Trump Future
The heat and light given off by the nuclear grind between President Trump and his antagonists have blinded Washington’s chroniclers to something important happening right before their eyes. The fusion of populism and conservatism as a workable and ideological political movement is emerging in the actions of two newly elected senators: Josh Hawley and Rick Scott.
Two Brand-New Senators Cast Light On The GOP’s Post-Trump Future
The heat and light given off by the nuclear grind between President Trump and his antagonists have blinded Washington’s chroniclers to something important happening right before their eyes. The fusion of populism and conservatism as a workable and ideological political movement is emerging in the actions of two newly elected senators: Josh Hawley and Rick Scott.
The real scandal in higher education: The rate of tuition increases
There’s a national scandal in higher education, but it’s not the one that got revealed this week. It’s been obvious to anyone who has paid tuition or attention for quite some time. The real scandal is not just news that Hollywood and Wall Street elites can bribe their way through the gate, it’s that middle-class people can no longer pay their way through it honestly, even with sacrifice. That’s not always been the case.
Why Democrats Should Make Their Debates A Reality TV Show
Every week another Democrat announces the formation of a committee to run for president. Before you know it, the Senate will have difficulty getting a quorum east of Iowa because so many of its members are spending their days stumping there in advance of the first-in-the-nation caucuses next February. The field will be too large for party elders to manage, so they must figure out how to maximize its impact, and the key to it is how the Democratic National Committee structures its debates.
How an Aquaponics System Works
-Advertisement- Discover the aquaponics system of food production that involves a symbiotic relationship between plant and animal. By Brad Todd | January/February 2017 Lucky Clays Fresh does extensive educational tours and classes for aquaponic production (author Brad Todd is pictured in foreground). Photo courtesy Lucky Clays Fresh The 1958 Volks-wagen van handles local deliveries. Photo courtesy Lucky Clays Fresh The greenhouse at the local production and teaching facility.
How Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Finally United The Right Under Trump
It is not hard to imagine a President Jeb Bush nominating Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is difficult, however, to imagine Bush sticking with Kavanaugh through the fire his confirmation process became. That difference is why Republican enthusiasm for the midterm elections, which had been lagging, now is on steroids and might stay that way. Until the Kavanaugh proceedings, Trump’s style of leadership via chaos thrilled a slice of the GOP coalition and exasperated another.
Someone Finally Gets Trump: The Great Revolt By Salena Zito and Brad Todd
One of the very few reporters to even try to understand what was happening with the Trump phenomenon in 2016 was Salena Zito, then of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. While never definitively predicting Trump would win, she nevertheless spent all her time off the beaten path of all the other “pool” reporters and visited Erie County, Pennsylvania, Ashtabula County, Ohio, Lee County, Iowa and countless other places where the fake newsies refused to go without proper shots.
Why Trump voters supported Trump
Long before he decided to vote for Donald Trump, Jonathan Kochie, a bar owner in Luzerne County, Pa., worried about his country turning from the American traditions of hard work and diversity. “Well, we got away from that and moved toward only some people’s traditions and cultures matter, and the other people just need to go away,” he tells the authors of The Great Revolt.
Why Trump Voters Supported Trump
Whatever the taxonomy, though, the same grievances and issues run through the interviews in this book. The Trump victory emerges as an anti-establishment, anti-elitist protest vote, more rejection of Hillary Clinton than embrace of Donald Trump. The authors note that a town they visited in one of the 23 Wisconsin counties that flipped from Obama to Trump had been plastered with Bernie signs during the 2016 primary.
Is Trump’s Coalition Built To Last?
Enjoying this article? Subscribe to our weekly C&E Newsletter & bi-weekly CampaignTech Newsletter by clicking here. The following is an excerpt from The Great Revolt: Inside The Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics Copyright © 2018 by Salena Zito and Brad Todd. Published by Crown Forum, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC.
Kneeling NFL players should chose a different form of protest
For nearly three weeks last fall, the National Football League waged war against President Trump over player protests during the national anthem. After 19 days, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell began a slow-moving public relations train wreck of capitulation, culminating in a new rule announced Wednesday that will allow the league to fine teams for actions taken by players deemed disrespectful during playing of the anthem.
Book Review: The Great Revolt
While Donald Trump’s election continues to rock the American press and the Washington establishment, Salena Zito and Brad Todd’s new book, The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics, reveals that his winning coalition was clearly obvious to those who knew where to look. For those of you who love political analysis, and want the best analysis of the critical factors leading to the 2016 election results, this book is absolutely one you need to own.
These Lifelong Democrats Voted For Trump and Aren't Sorry
It is 1:45 in the morning and Bonnie Smith’s alarm has just gone off. That alarm is a reminder that, seven days a week, she is living her lifelong dream of owning a bakery. “I come in at two-thirty in the morning. We start making doughnuts from scratch. After that, I go into the breads and pies or whatever I have going out—like right now I need to do cupcakes, and I have a couple pies I have to put out, but I also have to check what orders are going out.
Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics by Salena Zito; Brad Todd (Hardcover): Booksamillion.com: Books
Standout syndicated columnist and CNN contributor Salena Zito, with veteran Republican strategist Brad Todd, reports across five swing states and over 27,000 miles to answer the pressing question: Was Donald Trump's election a fluke or did it represent a fundamental shift in the electorate that will have repercussions--for Republicans and Democrats--for years to come.
The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics (Hardcover)
The history of the American electorate is not a litany of flukes; instead it is a pattern of tectonic plate-grinding, punctuated by a landscape-altering earthquake every generation or so.
The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics (Hardcover)
The history of the American electorate is not a litany of flukes; instead it is a pattern of tectonic plate-grinding, punctuated by a landscape-altering earthquake every generation or so.
The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics
The history of the American electorate is not a litany of flukes; instead it is a pattern of tectonic plate-grinding, punctuated by a landscape-altering earthquake every generation or so.
Authors probe movement that sent Trump to White House
“The Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics”By Salena Zito and Brad Todd320 pages. Crown Publishing Group. $28 Salena Zito was 57 years old, jobless and weeks from losing her health care. She noticed a “help wanted” sign at the French bakery next door, so she walked over to apply.“I knew I was never leaving Pittsburgh,” Zito says. “This is where my family is.”The date was Nov. 9, 2016.
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