I’ve been thinking about this tension lately- Trump gets credit for grabbing attention well, but a key story of last cycle is his strength with low-engagement folks.
One way to resolve this is that making news might sort of sieve-like; you need to be constantly high viz everywhere to get through.
One way to resolve this is that making news might sort of sieve-like; you need to be constantly high viz everywhere to get through.
Reposted from
Dan Hopkins
I agree w/ @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social that attention is a critical political currency, but also think it's noteworthy that Trump's GOP is especially strong with lower-turnout voters, who pay less attention to politics.
The attention Trump draws may not always help him.
The attention Trump draws may not always help him.
Comments
Perhaps (in a post-materialist view) these low info folks may be being reached more by Trump, but really they’re just more heavily sensitive to material issues and against the incumbent because inflation/pre-covid memory.
I’m fairly unsure still, but while both are true, my sense is the latter effect is more prevalent/important?
It feels more likely to me that Trump support is downstream of how low info folks think about politics than unique to his ability to wield attention.