Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America

Identity Crisis takes readers from the bruising primaries to an election night whose outcome defied the predictions of the pollsters and pundits. The book shows how fundamental characteristics of the nation and its politics?the state of the economy, the Obama presidency, and the demographics of the political parties?combined with the candidates' personalities and rhetoric to produce one of the most unexpected presidencies in history. Early on, the fundamental characteristics predicted an extremely close election. And even though Trump's many controversies helped Clinton maintain a comfortable lead for most of the campaign, the prediction of a close election became reality when Americans cast their votes. Identity Crisis reveals how Trump's victory was foreshadowed by changes in the Democratic and Republican coalitions that were driven by people's racial and ethnic identities. The campaign then reinforced and exacerbated those cleavages as it focused on issues related to race, immigration, and religion. The result was an epic battle not just for the White House but about what America is and should be.

About the Author :
John Sides is associate professor of political science at George Washington University. He is the coauthor of The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election. Michael Tesler is associate professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Post-Racial or Most-Racial?: Race and Politics in the Obama Era. Lynn Vavreck is professor of political science and communication studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author, with John Sides, of The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election. After producing, directing, and engineering spoken word recordings for over twenty years, Paul Heitsch began narrating audiobooks in 2011, and has recorded many bestselling titles as both himself and under a pseudonym. A classically trained pianist, Paul is also a composer and sound designer, and is currently the director of music for the James Madison University School of Theatre and Dance, and an adjunct instructor for the JMU School of Music. He and his family live in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia (although Chicago will always be his hometown).