We broke down Trump’s supporters. We needed more baskets.

The Washington Post and ABC Newsfound that Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters who supported Trump in the primary could be divided into not two, but four baskets of roughly equal size based on their economic and racial anxieties:

.. Only 26 percent of Trump’s supporters said that they were not struggling economically or in the lower class, but that it was a bigger problem that whites were losing out to African Americans and Hispanics than vice versa

.. Another 20 percent said they did not think it was a problem that whites were losing out, but they did put themselves in the lower class or said they were struggling economically.

.. Twenty-five percent of Trump’s supporters said both that whites were losing out and reported economic distress.

.. Finally, 24 percent said neither that they had financial problems nor that whites were losing out.

.. Republicans and independents who supported primary candidates other than Trump were much less likely to say either that they were in economic straits or that whites were losing out to other racial and ethnic groups.

.. those who think African Americans aren’t trying hard enough or are getting more than they deserve, for example — also have more negative views of the economy.

How Trump Ended the Obamacare Debate

Republicans once made opposition to the Affordable Care Act central to their message—but their nominee understands the dangers of taking health care away from those who need it.

Less than 60 days out from the presidential vote, however, the issue of Obamacare has all but vanished from the Republican message.

Donald Trump remains virtually silent on Obamacare. Look at Trump’s last 10 speeches—the number since Trump began delivering prepared-text teleprompter remarks. All came during a period of bad news about Obamacare. But, according to the texts released by the campaign, one Trump speech didn’t mention Obamacare at all, while several others devoted just a few—really, a few—words to the subject.

.. Trump early grasped something that has eluded more conventional Republicans over the past seven years: As compared to the Obamacare status quo, mainstream Republican health-care proposals would shrink coverage—and raise out-of-pocket costs—for many millions of Americans.

.. Obamacare is a flawed, unstable program. But it’s something.

.. Republicans will not regain an opportunity to reform health care their way until 2021. By that time, the Affordable Care Act will have been the law of the land for eight years. Its defects will be more visible than ever. The expectations generated by the act will be more entrenched than ever, too.

 

Overlooked Influences on Donald Trump: A Famous Minister and His Church

“They said, ‘We understand this is where Marla Maples met Donald Trump,’” recalled the choir director and organist at the time, Kevin Walters, “‘so we thought we’d come and see if we could hook up with a billionaire, too.’”

.. He describes himself as a Presbyterian, but Marble is not a Presbyterian church — it is part of the Reformed Church in America,

.. the Trumps were prominent parishioners at a church close to their home, First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens. Like Marble, it is a church with a history: It describes itself as the oldest continuously worshiping Presbyterian congregation in the country.

.. But in the 1960s, the Trumps gravitated to Marble. The lure was Dr. Peale, a household name since the publication of the 1952 best seller that transformed “the power of positive thinking” into a national catchphrase.

.. “Everything he does is about winning,” Gwenda Blair, the author of “The Trumps: Three Generations of Builders and a Presidential Candidate,” a biography of the family, said in a recent New York Times podcast. “It’s only about winning and losing — those two are the only principles that are involved. That’s a very Norman Vincent Peale notion — that notion of success above all.”

.. Richard M. Nixon worshiped at Marble after he lost to Kennedy, and Dr. Peale supported him even as the Watergate scandal doomed his presidency.

.. “I don’t respect Mr. Trump very much,” he was quoted as saying. “I don’t think the image of Norman Vincent Peale that comes through Donald Trump is any connection to the idea I have of him.”

.. Mr. Trump said that contrary to what the two women had told the usher — and contrary to a famous tabloid headline, “They Met in Church” — his first encounter with Ms. Maples was not at Marble. But as the relationship developed, so did the awkwardness for some at the church.

.. This was really embarrassing, that this man was married and having this big-time affair and the church was connected with it.”