On Trump vs. the Squad

You can make a reasonable argument that all of the parties got what they wanted out of this episode. The Squad got lots of attention; Pelosi got an issue she could use to unify the party; and Trump was able to mobilize his base. Same old, same old.

I think Trump’s calculations were wrong, however. Outrageous statements which mobilize the base only really work if they provoke an overreaction from the left, which helps with swing voters. In this case, the racism was extremely obvious, and the response was not disproportionate. I think it cost him votes from the center that he will need, whether he knows it or not, in 2020.