Early Returns: Failures, Fundamentals and Foreign Policy

[Bloomberg View] [Jonathan Bernstein's Early Returns] A daily round-up of superb political insights May 05, 2016 [bloombergview.com] 1. Must-read from Julia Azari at Mischiefs of Faction on the [limitations of parties] and their procedures for protecting democracy. 2. John Sides reminds us: The [fundamentals were probably with the Republicans] in the 2016 election, but Donald Trump changes that. 3. Seth Masket at Mischiefs of Faction: Nominating Trump “represents [the most colossal failure of an American political party in modern history].” I’d say the previous award winner was Jimmy Carter for the Democrats in 1980, but Trump is quite a bit more of a failure. 4. Mark Mellman at the Hill recommends [more positive ads]. Best 2016 example: Jeb Bush might have had a chance if he had run positive ads, instead of wasting tens of millions of dollars attacking (mainly) Marco Rubio. I can’t prove it, but I still think a significant group of voters who might have been interested in Jeb! mistakenly assumed he was a Billy Carter, a buffoon with no qualifications other than his brother and father. 5. Jonathan Chait is good on the [impossible dilemma facing Republican politicians] with Trump at the top of the ticket. 6. My Bloomberg View colleague Barry Ritholtz has a nice column on [how the next president will affect the economy] (and your investments). One big addition: Much of what he credits to presidents is, as he does acknowledge, really about what Congress does. That’s true both on the legislation side and on the regulation side. 7. Dahlia Lithwick at Slate on [the different stages of Ted Cruz’s career]. 8. And Dan Drezner on [how to have a foreign-policy doctrine]. [Read more Jonathan Bernstein at bloombergview.com] [Jonathan Bernstein] For more information, email [view@bloomberg.net]. For media inquiries, contact Jill Watanabe at +1-212-617-1610 or [jwatanabe11@bloomberg.net]. You received this message because you signed up for Bloomberg View newsletters. [bloombergview.com] | 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 | [Contact Us] | [Unsubscribe]