The Presidential Election Of 2020

William Crotty

doi:10.5771/9781793625564

Summary

The Presidential Election of 2020: Donald Trump and the Crisis of Democracy places the election of 2020 within the context of the Trump presidency, a chaotic and tense time in American politics and a dangerous one. The election is analyzed in depth and its meaning for the state of American society is made clear. A major theme in the book is a critique of Donald Trump's leadership, his incompetence in office, his appeal to followers and the danger this has proven to represent. Among other things, he was accused of mental instability during his presidency. Yet he received the second highest vote total in American history, exceeded only by winning candidate Joe Biden's.

Trump was impeached twice for his actions in office but both times not held responsible for what he had done by a Republican-controlled Senate.

The election is placed in an on-going context. It was followed by strenuous attempts by Trump and associates to have states reverse their results and declare him the winner and by the Trump-organized seditious assault on the Capitol in which five people died. The objective was to force Vice President Mike Pence, who was chairing a Joint Session of Congress, normally a formality, to instead reject the Electoral College vote outcome. Pence would not do it. His life and that of Speaker Nancy Pelosi were threatened by the rioters.

The threat of a coup, a new development in American politics, and one led by Trump and others who share his views, remains. Meanwhile President Joe Biden in his efforts to reconstruct America has introduced the most ambitious policy agenda since the New Deal.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2021
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-2555-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-2556-4
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 292
Product type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
2. List of Figures and Tables No access
3. 1. Figures No access
  2. Tables No access
4. Acknowledgments No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 2
1. Introduction No access
2. Why Trump Was What He Was No access
3. The Business Career of Donald Trump No access
4. Trump’s Political Career No access
5. Taking Stock of the Trump Presidency No access
6. Policy and Politics No access
7. Immigration Policy and the Separation of Asylum-Seeking Families No access
8. Covid No access
9. The Russian Problem: The Mueller Report and the Senate Intelligence Committee Report No access
10. Trump’s Impact on Government Agencies No access
11. Trump and the Courts No access
12. Supreme Court Representation and Amy Coney Barrett No access
13. A “Law and Order” President and Lafayette Square No access
14. The Assault on the Capitol No access
15. Militarization and Authoritarianism No access
16. Impeachment No access
17. Trump’s Defenders No access
18. Summary No access
19. Conclusion No access
20. Notes No access
21. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. The President as the Problem No access
3. The Physical Health of Donald Trump No access
4. The President as the Problem: The Mental Health of Donald Trump No access
5. Donald Trump and His Supporters: Cult-Like and Unshakeable No access
6. The 2020 Presidential Election as a Crisis in American Democracy No access
7. The Presidential Race in 2020 No access
8. Voting in the 2020 Election No access
9. Summary No access
10. Conclusion No access
11. Notes No access
12. References No access
1. The Rules No access
2. The Large, Diverse Field of Democratic Candidates No access
3. The Invisible Primary No access
4. The Front-Four Contests No access
5. Super Tuesday No access
6. Covid-19 and the Changing Primary Calendar No access
7. The Renomination of Donald Trump No access
8. The Unusual National Conventions No access
9. Third-Party Nominations No access
10. Conclusion No access
11. Notes No access
12. References No access
1. The 2020 Presidential Election in the Age of Polarization No access
2. Polarization and Realignment No access
3. The Presidential Election of 2020 No access
4. States in the 2020 Presidential Election No access
5. Voter Turnout and Its Enhancements No access
6. Exit Polls: The People No access
7. Exit Polls: Party, Ideology, and Issues No access
8. The Aftermath No access
9. Notes No access
10. References No access
1. The Assault on the States and the Capitol No access
2. States and the Party Nominations No access
3. The Covid-19 Pandemic and the Presidential Election in the States No access
4. Comparing Two Eras as Reflected in the Alignment of the States No access
5. Realigning and Deviating Elections No access
6. Alignment of States Compared to Earlier Eras No access
7. The Trump and Anti-Trump Constituencies No access
8. Deviating or Realigning in 2020? No access
9. What Happened in the States? No access
10. Urban, Suburban, and Rural Voters No access
11. Race and Ethnicity No access
12. The Road Ahead: How States Will Drive the Political Future No access
13. A Postscript: Georgia Provides a Clue No access
14. References No access
1. Women Candidates Rush to Run No access
2. Registration and Voting: Women Heavily Target Women No access
3. Issues and Messaging: Tough Times Make Microtargeting More Difficult No access
4. Media: Women Take Charge No access
5. Biden Wins Women’s Vote, But Not by Margin Expected No access
6. References No access
1. Introduction No access
2. Race, Truth, and the “Birth of a Nation” No access
3. Partisan Vitriol and the Racial Divide No access
4. Centuries of Racial Construction: Every “Body” Defined No access
5. Citizenship and Race: White Privilege in the Face of Justice No access
6. Conclusion: Democracy, When? No access
7. Note No access
8. References No access
1. Greta Thunberg and Youth Climate Activism No access
2. The Green New Deal No access
3. The Democratic Primaries No access
4. Nature Steps In No access
5. Biden’s Nomination No access
6. Trump’s Acceptance Speech No access
7. The Environment in the General Election No access
8. Biden’s Environmental Policy Proposals No access
9. The Debates of the 2020 Campaign No access
10. Biden’s Victory and the Troubled Transition No access
11. Conclusion No access
12. References No access
1. The Rise and Fall of Medicare for All within the Democratic Party No access
2. The ACA Approach No access
3. The Trump Health Care Vision No access
4. Health Care in the Post-Trump Era No access
5. Notes No access
6. References No access
1. 1864: No Party Now, But All for Our Country No access
2. 1940 and 1944: A Summons to Duty No access
3. 1964: “Let Us Continue” No access
4. 2020: Echoes of Elections Past No access
5. Divided Democrats No access
6. A Personality Cult Endangers the Republic No access
7. A Politics of Disappointment 2.0? No access
8. Notes No access
9. References No access
Index No access Pages 275 - 286
About the Contributors No access Pages 287 - 292