divide and distract

“Like just about everything else in Donald Trump’s career, his immigration strategy is a bankrupt mess” As President Trump tries to whip up a frenzy over border security, immigration and asylum policy, here are three key points to keep in mind: Trump and the GOP own this problem, and... Continue »

In May, White House senior adviser Stephen Miller told Breitbart that attacking immigrants was going to be the main focus of Republicans running in this fall’s elections, and boy did GOP candidates deliver. As we’ve been tracking at our new website DivideAndDistract2018.com, dozens of Republicans across the country have... Continue »

Washington Post/ABC Poll: More Democrats than Republicans Say Immigration is Important to their 2018 Vote Is the bet Republicans are making on xenophobia going to work this election cycle? Recent polling suggests that the prevailing conventional wisdom — that the issue is a winner for Republicans –may have to... Continue »

Attacking immigrants for electoral success is, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon, but Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s 2018 midterm divide and distract strategy has almost entirely consumed the Republican Party this election cycle. This cynical political strategy seeks to scapegoat immigrants to distract from the GOP’s unpopular policies. We... Continue »

Xenophobia hasn’t worked to date; Will it Work Going Forward? This is the lede of a Washington Post story published today: Republican campaigns have largely abandoned touting the GOP tax law ahead of the November midterms, with many pivoting instead to divisive issues such as crime and immigration in... Continue »

Las Vegas, NV. — A newly released ad from the Senate Leadership Fund, which is aligned with GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has brought the Trump/Republican anti-immigrant political message to Nevada. This ad aims to bolster incumbent Senator Dean Heller is like others produced by Republican candidates over the... Continue »

New NBC/WSJ Poll Suggests Republican Strategy of Stoking Fear of Immigrants in Hopes of Disqualifying Democrats is Meeting Stiff Resistance The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll is the latest evidence that the Republican strategy to make the midterms an ugly referendum on race and immigration is at odds... Continue »

Leading advocates were quick to condemn the implications and motivations driving the Trump administration’s new “public charge” rule. The announcement is the latest evidence of Stephen Miller’s relentless assault on immigrants and refugees, as well as the GOP’s desperate and cynical “divide and distract” midterm strategy. Among the key... Continue »

Greg Sargent Take is Essential Reading on The Democratic Party’s Future Andrew Gillum’s upset win in the Florida Democratic gubernatorial primary carries with it several big lessons for the current political moment, including that candidates who unapologetically run on big issues, fundamental values, and a grassroots organizing model can... Continue »

A New York Times op-ed from Derrick Johnson, president and chief executive of the NAACP, lifts up the findings and implications of polling conducted for the NAACP by the African American Research Collaborative and Latino Decisions, analyzing voters’ views in 61 of the nation’s most competitive midterm congressional districts.... Continue »