Neither Candidate Scored Any Decisive Victory (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

Their disrespect for each other in blunt and sometimes brutal ways marred the effort to place this debate on a high plane of discourse

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/neither-candidate-scored-any-obvious-decisive-victory-17992

Trump Didn't Stress the Issues That Have Fueled His Rise (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

If debates are an exercise in scoring points, Clinton got the better of her opponent.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/trump-didnt-stress-the-issues-have-fueled-his-rise-17855

Obama DNC Speech Highlights Clash of Values with Trump (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

President Obama’s eloquent, moving, nicely delivered speech at the Democratic National Convention last night conveyed to the nation a central reality of the 2016 president election—namely, that it is fundamentally a contest between Obama and Republican candidate Donald Trump, with Hillary Clinton caught in the middle.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/obama-dnc-speech-defends-legacy-highlights-clash-values-17162

Obama's Double Standard on Race (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

America has just experienced one of the saddest weeks anyone can remember, certainly since the 9/11 Al Qaeda attacks. Two young black men shot to death by policemen, one white, the other Asian, in episodes that seem, in early perceptions, to have been senseless. Then eleven Dallas police officers shot from ambush—at least five fatally—in a racially charged spree of savagery. Such events, and certainly such events in confluence, defy efforts to give expression to the human emotions they unleash. We try, of course, reaching for the most powerful and outrage-charged words we can muster, but everything seems to fall short. It’s too sad, too numbing, too disheartening.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/obamas-double-standard-race-16910

5 Reasons Trump Is Dominating American Politics (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

One remarkable element of American politics is the extent to which unthinkable developments become commonplace once they happen. Consider simply the men who have become president by defying the conventional wisdom that said they could never reach that office, because they weren’t right for the times and the times weren’t right for them. They include Abraham Lincoln, considered a western bumpkin with only a single congressional term under his belt and no discernible sophistication about him. Or Ronald Reagan, considered a failed actor, a man whose detractors felt he was simply too dumb to be president. And let’s not forget Barack Obama, clearly an accomplished and polished politician whose race, it was believed by many, would constitute a barrier because the country wasn’t yet ready for a black president. But when these men actually reached the White House it seemed entirely natural. The country casually absorbed the reality of something that previously had seemed impossible

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/5-reasons-trump-dominating-american-politics-16384

Will Ted Cruz Pull off an Old-School ‘Corrupt Bargain’? (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

Let’s stipulate that there never was any solid evidence that John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay really stole the 1824 presidential election with a “corrupt bargain.” After the election was thrown into the House of Representatives, House Speaker Clay steered the chamber toward an Adams victory and subsequently got from Adams the best job in the country—secretary of state—for anyone wanting to be president. Did Adams really promise Clay that presidential stepping-stone in exchange for his handing Adams the presidency? We’ll never know; the evidence wasn’t there and still isn’t.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/will-ted-cruz-pull-old-school-%E2%80%98corrupt-bargain%E2%80%99-15866

GOP Chaos Looms in Cleveland (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

Anyone interested in understanding the emergence of the Donald Trump insurgency within the Republican Party might want to ponder one small reflection of the elitist haughtiness that has spawned the Trump constituency. It is the Republicans’ ill-considered Rule 40(b), enacted at the last Republican convention to set limits on who can qualify to have his or her name placed in nomination at future GOP nominating conventions, beginning with this year’s confab in Cleveland.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/gop-chaos-looms-cleveland-15511

The GOP Establishment’s Phony War Against Trump (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

Prominent figures have lashed out with an angry and unyielding letter.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-gop-establishments-phony-war-against-trump-15400

The Fall of the House of Bush (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

Jeb Bush is a nice guy. So is his brother, George W. Bush. Their father, George Herbert Walker Bush, is a particularly nice guy. It’s a nice family. But at the presidential level, they all have been failures. Much of what’s wrong with the country today—and some of what’s wrong with the world—can be placed at their feet. Jeb’s exit from the Republican nomination battle on Saturday puts an end to the so-called Bush dynasty, and that can’t be bad for the Republic.

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-fall-the-house-bush-15287

New Hampshire’s Primary Lesson: The Status Quo Has Failed (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

Seldom in American history has the political status quo taken a hammering like the one it is taking in this campaign year. This is reflected not just in the results of the New Hampshire primaries but also in exit-poll results and expressions of candidate defiance. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said it best when he said his campaign was about “having the courage to reject the status quo.”

http://nationalinterest.org/feature/new-hampshires-primary-lesson-the-status-quo-has-failed-15170

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Will Republicans Fall for the Iran Trap? (Robert W. Merry, The National Interest)

http://www.nationalinterest.org/feature/will-republicans-fall-the-iran-trap-13427