THE GREAT REVOLT

WAS DONALD TRUMP’S ELECTION A FLUKE, OR DID IT REPRESENT A FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN THE ELECTORATE THAT WILL HAVE REPERCUSSIONS—FOR REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS— FOR YEARS TO COME?

[ ABOUT THE AUTHORS ]

SALENA ZITO

AND

BRAD TODD

Born and bred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, worked for a Pittsburgh newspaper for eleven years. She joined the New York Post in 2016 and acts as a political analyst for CNN and a staff reporter and columnist for the Washington Examiner. Zito’s weekly syndicated column appears in more than twenty newspapers nationwide.

A sixth-generation native of rural East Tennessee, is a founding partner at OnMessage Inc., a leading national Republican advertising and opinion research agency. Todd’s candidate clients have included seven U.S. senators, five governors, and more than two dozen congressmen.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

“While Donald Trump’s election shocked the Washington establishment, Salena Zito and Brad Todd show that his coalition was hidden in plain sight. Far from a ‘basket of deplorables,’ they’re the forgotten men and women of America, people who work with their hands and on their feet, and who want a government that rewards their work and respects their communities. Zito and Todd tell their story, and anyone interested in American politics would do well to listen.”

COPYRIGHT 2021 - THE GREAT REVOLT

INSIDE THE POPULIST COALITION RESHAPING AMERICAN POLITICS

Salena Zito is unique: a truth-telling reporter who found the America that elected Donald Trump. She listened to them. Understands them. Respects them. Not only did she get the election right, but by employing the lost art of shoe-leather journalism, she uncovered an amazing national political realignment that was—and still is—completely invisible to the Wizards of Smart who inhabit our distant capital. Whenever I see her byline, I stop and read. I know it will be that good. You should, too. Don’t doubt me.”

“Salena Zito picked up on a political phenomenon long before polls or pundits had any idea of what was happening. Her drives from Pittsburgh to Cleveland opened her eyes about the rise of Trump and her shoe leather reporting and skills as a journalist helped her understand why. Her voice channeling and explaining these voters is invaluable for the Trump era.”

"Many political pundits wouldn’t know their Ashtabula from a hole in the ground; Zito and Todd surely do and have given us something useful. If you desire a meatier dish from smart writers more comfortable at a local diner than a fru fru Washington, D.C., restaurant, "The Great Revolt" is for you.”

“The Great Revolt is not a screed against “the liberal media” or “media bias,” itis instead some of the voices of the people who had stopped being heard until 2016, people who were first given a choice by Donald Trump, and who have now been given a voice by Salena Zito and Brad Todd. This cross-section of people is worth studying, their stories are worth hearing, not all of them came to Trump the same way, but they all got there eventually. Salena Zito and Brad Todd have done a remarkable job of sharing these stories and showing us how.”

"Salena Zito and Brad Todd examined swing counties in five states that were, up until 2016, the Democrats “blue wall.” The Midwest states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Ohio. Their new book, “The Great Revolt,” features profiles of Trump voters, polling data and an examination of the votes. It is chock full of fascinating detail and insightful interviews with Trump voters.“

IN THE NEWS

“one of the first truly indispensable analyses of the 2016 election…a wake-up call for a Democratic party out of touch with the voters who once provided its backbone.”“one of the first truly indispensable analyses of the 2016 election…a wake-up call for a Democratic party out of touch with the voters who once provided its backbone.”

“People struggling to understand what is happening in American politics would do well to read this fascinating book…”

“a remarkable book…dig deep into the electoral earthquake of 2016, the seismic shift that saw the Democrats’ vaunted “blue wall” crumble as Trump piled up unexpected electoral college wins in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin, and a slightly less surprising victory in Ohio…”

"Most of the national pundit class has tried to explain the rise of Trump voters by pointing to racism, or economic resentment, or racism, or cultural change, or even, you know, racism as an explanation. But Salena Zito and Brad Todd tried something different: They went to those voters and asked them….in two ways: Face to face, in a series of deep and sensitive interviews, and en masse in a large opinion survey. Both inquiries produced a lot of useful material that both Democrats and Republicans would be well advised to study and internalize."

“Key reading for Democrats…The authors paint a portrait of Trump’s base that is not standard GOP-issue, and a Democratic partly overly reliant upon its upstairs-downstairs bicoastal coalition.”

‘The authors contend—rightly, in my view—that the Democratic Party has become so homogenized and aggressive on cultural issues that many formerly Democratic or independent voters in purple or blue states felt emboldened to cast their votes for Mr. Trump’s conservative populism. “A liberalism that seeks to spread cosmopolitan relativism to the masses,” they write, “by force if necessary, instead of spreading economic equality, was destined to leave a decisive slice of the American electorate in search of a new home.”

“The Great Revolt argues that Trump didn’t just destroy conventional Republican politics; he also built something new, uniting a coalition of Americans who hate bigness and politically correct, arrogant elites… it is a valuable read on two levels. First, it provides a nuanced, multifaceted theory of the Trump coalition, resisting the temptation to oversimplify a complex, diverse group of voters and the man they voted for. The authors offer archetypes that are impressionistic but subtle—a quality in short supply in contemporary American politics. The book is also a meta-document, an artifact of Republican mythmaking to come. Unlike most retellings of the 2016 election, The Great Revolt provides a cohesive, non-wild-eyed argument about where the Republican Party could be headed.”

"The revealing conversations peel back the layers of a complicated American onion, where the heart of our newfound populist movement is a rejection of “bigness.” Government, corporations, media, and multinational trade agreements — rejecting these big institutions, Zito and Todd argue, is the hallmark of this “wrecking ball” coalition in which localism trumps globalism”

“even if you don’t share the authors’ sympathies, or agree with their subjects’ reasoning, you’ll at least be able to better understand what happened.”

“Zito and Todd outline seven archetypes of the “most surprising” voters Trump attracted, fleshing out each category with compelling voter interviews that make the numbers easier to understand. The authors let their subjects do much of the work, breathing life into the electoral statistics many coastal observers understand mathematically more than emotionally.”

"The mighty Trump voter gets some significant analysis...revealing the authentic spirit and iron-willed determination of some 63 million voters who brought President Trump victory"

“The Great Revolt,” features profiles of Trump voters, polling data and an examination of the votes. It is chock full of fascinating detail and insightful interviews with Trump voters.”

"Ms. Zito and Mr. Todd have done a service by portraying Trump Nation in a way that goes beyond either academic data-crunching or breathless coverage of presidential rallies.”

“Salena Zito’s Great Revolt Nails It."