Michael R. Strain, Columnist

Is Carnage Still Trump's Key to the Electoral College?

The swing in swing states: Voters have less reason to be anxious and angry.

February 12, 2020 at 2:30 PM UTC

Michael R. Strain is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is director of economic policy studies and Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Political Economy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of “The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It).”

A change of tune in Wisconsin.
Photographer: Joshua Lott/Getty Images

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“American carnage” was at the heart of Donald Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign. This was particularly true in hard-hit swing states, which he alluded to in his inaugural address when he described “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation.”

Now he is saying that “the years of economic decay are over” and heralding “the great American comeback.” Will the new rhetoric work in the crucial battleground states as the president seeks re-election?