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Why Does Trump Still Have 44 Percent of Voters? Why Is Hillbilly Elegy Still Number One?

On this episode of Start Making Sense, Marc Cooper analyzes the GOP today, and Becca Rothfield examines J.D. Vance’s memoir.

Jon Wiener

August 21, 2024

Former US president and 2024 presidential nominee Donald Trump greets US Senator and vice presidential nominee JD Vance.(Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images)

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Why does Trump still have 44% of voters? Why is ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ Still Number One? | Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

As the Democrats meet to celebrate Kamala, Trump seems disoriented and unsure what to do next. Nevertheless he’s holding on to 44% of the electorate. How come? Marc Cooper has our analysis.

Also: Kamala may be rising in the polls, but the Number One nonfiction bestseller in America is still “Hillbilly Elegy” by J.D. Vance. Luckily for us, Becca Rothfeld has read it, so we don’t have to. She’s nonfiction book critic for the Washington Post.

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As the Democrats meet to celebrate Kamala, Trump seems disoriented and unsure what to do next. Nevertheless he’s holding on to 44 percent of the electorate. How come? Marc Cooper has our analysis.

Also: Kamala Harris may be rising in the polls, but the number-one nonfiction bestseller in America is still Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. Luckily for us, Becca Rothfeld has read it, so we don’t have to. She’s nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Dems After Tuesday’s Primaries, plus Elmore Leonard’s Bad Guys / Start Making Sense
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols analyzes this week’s primary results in California and elsewhere, and, from the archives, Elmore Leonard talks about where his characters and plots came from.

California’s jungle primary on Tuesday set the stage for the next Democratic governor of the state, and primaries in Iowa, New Jersey and elsewhere tested the strength of progressives in the party. John Nichols has our analysis.

Also: from the archives: Elmore Leonard, who died in 2013 at age 87, was unpretentious about his massive accomplishments: 45 novels, more than a dozen turned into movies, and a reputation as one of the great writers of dialogue. When we spoke in 2000, he had just published Pagan Babies, and his movies Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, and Out of Sight had been hits.

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Jon WienerTwitterJon Wiener is a contributing editor of The Nation and co-author (with Mike Davis) of Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties.


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