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The Gray Area with Sean Illing

David Frum on the 2016 election, and the long decline of the GOP

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.511.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2016

⏱️ 97 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’re bringing the Ezra Klein Show to you a little early this week because, well, there's an election coming in a few days. And we wanted to talk about it. The 2016 election is the product of profound failures on the part of different institutions in American life: the Republican Party, the media, the financial system. And few have tracked those failures as clearly, or closely, as David Frum.Frum is Canadian by birth — a perspective, he says, that helps him see American politics as the product of institutions, rather than just personalities. Since moving to the US in the 80s and finding himself inspired by Ronald Reagan, he's chronicled and commentated on conservatism in America. His book, Dead Right, is one of the key documents for understanding the Republican Party of the 1990s. He then did a stint as speechwriter in George W. Bush's White House, where he wrote the famous "Axis of Evil" line in Bush's 2002 State of the Union. More recently, he's written for the Atlantic, where he's been unsparing — and largely proven right — in his assessment of the Republican Party's institutional collapse.This conversation is an exploration of what has happened to the Republican Party — what it was, what it's become, and why. We talk about:-Why journalists need to account for governing institutions before turning to cultural explanations-How he thinks diversity and inequality are linked-How Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump differ-What he learned about inequality while working for the Wall Street Journal editorial page-The best-titled speech Newt Gingrich probably ever gave-His critique of the 1994 Republican Revolution and Newt Gingrich’s consolidation of the Speaker’s power-How Fox News and conservative talk radio echo chamber have harmed the Republican Party-The apocalyptic attitude conservatives rely on while campaigning -Why Trump was so successful running against the Bush family legacy-The role white nationalism plays in Trump's rise (This is an argument I found particularly valuable)-How Canada avoided the nationalist backlash that plagues the US-His best and worst-case scenarios for a Hillary Clinton presidencyEnjoy! And then go vote. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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raus or

0:36.4

phrase

0:39.5

Phrach

0:42.5

OK.

0:43.5

Debut of

0:47.8

five to ten.

0:51.9

The following podcast contains explicit language.

0:58.9

Hello and welcome to another episode of The As For Climb Show.

1:03.9

My guest this week, Election Week, an unusually early episode because of it is David from.

1:09.9

David is a long time friend of mine.

1:12.9

He's been a great host of the show.

1:15.9

He's been one of the sharpest observers of this election all the way through.

1:18.9

He's been writing for years about what has been going on and what has been going wrong in the Republican Party.

1:23.9

He has been very, very early, I think, in understanding the strange dynamics of conservative media

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