Julian Zelizer

A good economy can create expectations for social movement politics, in the 1960s, the strong economy gave support to civil rights movement, with demands that African Americans be included in the growing middle class ; it produced more educated young people who were the heart of movement politics with the war ; and it gave support to ideas like fighting poverty, since the country could afford to do so.

The point is the good economic news does help an incumbent, but other problems, policies and challenges can undercut that advantage, whereas in 1968 it was a war in Southeast Asia, today it is a political war over the meaning of this presidency.

They are looking for someone who is antithetical to him. Someone they can trust, someone who is devoted to the state, and someone who seems clean and immune from scandal, they want a governor who will bring in new kinds of industry and new pockets of growth.

His approval ratings are terrible. They have been low and keep go... by Julian Zelizer

His approval ratings are terrible. They have been low and keep going down. He will leave unpopular.

Failed wars always hurt the president fighting them, but also continue to impact the party of the presidency for decades after they are gone.

If you had asked me before the pandemic, I probably would have talked a lot about the tax cuts, deregulation, even immigration, the pandemic swept up the country and defined what was going on. And so by definition, everything Julian Zelizer has done this year will be elevated beyond anything in the first three years.

Princeton University served as a kind of check, princeton University was always on the mind of everyone who was in the news business.

If the late 1960s is basis for comparison, things could get worse. The turmoil of the late 1960s didn't end with things becoming calmer, but the fault lines only intensified, in many ways we have been red hot ever since. Sometimes red hot moments such as this don't fizzle but generate a foundation for future political battles. I think that's the case right now, especially since there are institutions such as the partisan media that will continue to fuel the flames...

It's hard to imagine the commitment to this fantasy simply falling away of its own accord — certainly not when President Trump is fueling it every day, it's possible that the Fox News brass eventually will get people like Sean Hannity to acknowledge reality after January 20th. But I wouldn't bet on it. And those who work for fringier outlets will never drop this, at least not until something even more compelling comes along. So, unfortunately, you have millions of Americans thoroughly convinced — forever — that Biden is an illegitimate president. Maybe they don't take to the streets over it but that's still a very destructive force in our society and politics. It's really distressing to contemplate but at the moment, I don't know of any way out.

The left-wing rioting and mayhem are the direct result of decades of left-wing indoctrination in our schools. It's gone on far too long.

I haven't seen anything like this, there have obviously been presidents who criticize the press and try to limit their access. Almost every president had some kind of tension with the press and some like Richard Nixon create their own enemies list. FDR used fireside chats as a way to control his message around conservative newspaper publishers. But now we are in a whole different ballgame.