Lee Hartley Carter

1 day ago

Trump turns Air Force One into a boardroom — and dares China to blink

President Donald Trump boarded Air Force One for Beijing with Boeing and Citigroup CEOs, sending a powerful message about American business competing.

May 5

LEE CARTER: The quiet way politicians are choosing their voters (and why you should care more than you think)

Gerrymandering reshapes political power by letting mapmakers decide how votes are grouped, making some voices count more than others in U.S. elections.

February 25

LEE CARTER: Trump's State of the Union wasn't a pivot — it was a power play

Forget presidential pivots. Trump turned the State of the Union into a political rally, using visual theatrics to control the narrative completely.

January 26

LEE CARTER: 45% of Americans calling themselves 'independent' aren't independent at all – they're just angry

Record 45% of Americans now identify as independents, but they're not moderate — they're angry citizens rejecting a broken political system and seeking change.

January 20

LEE CARTER: Trump's approval ratings reveal what legacy media refuses to see

President Donald Trump's low approval ratings one year in don't signal failure, but delivery on campaign promises, creating unsettling stability without consensus in divided America.

December 29

Affordability, DOGE and the language that captured American politics in 2025

Political reframing in 2025 showed how strategic language choices override traditional metrics, as Democrats' shift from "economy" to "affordability" messaging flipped races nationwide.

November 13

Washington reopens, but Americans still feel shut out

Lengthy federal government shutdown reveals deeper problem of public disengagement as political messaging failures erode belief in democratic institutions and leadership.

November 10

It’s not just the economy — this is how Democrats beat the GOP across the country

Democrats won big by focusing on affordability while Republicans face challenges similar to those that cost Democrats in 2024, reversing traditional economic messaging.

November 4

The hidden reason New Yorkers voted for a socialist — and it's not what you think

Zohran Mamdani's mayoral victory in New York City reveals why frustrated middle-class voters chose a self-described socialist to lead America's most capitalist city.

October 30

When we call everything an 'ism,' we stop hearing what voters actually care about

American political discourse suffers when politicians use -ism labels instead of addressing real economic concerns about affordability and working-class struggles.

October 17

The deafening silence of the ‘Free Palestine’ movement after the Gaza ceasefire

Gaza ceasefire creates unexpected quiet among Free Palestine supporters as moral identity conflicts with acknowledging incremental progress in activism.

September 20

Charlie Kirk assassination divides us, Bible teaches us to ‘overcome evil with good’

The assassination of Charlie Kirk reveals five troubling trends in American politics, from increased violence to weaponized grief dividing the nation further.

September 15

Trump will Make America Healthy Again with an unlikely coalition

Trump's Make America Healthy Again movement represents a political realignment that could redefine American politics by drawing diverse voters together.

September 5

Trump is sending a powerful message to the world with the Pentagon's rebrand

The controversial shift from Department of Defense to Department of War reflects a calculated move to project strength and instill warrior ethos in American military culture.

August 11

Texas gerrymandering battle doesn’t matter to voters. They lose either way

Texas gerrymandering fight exemplifies why 78% of Americans believe political elites play by different rules while ignoring kitchen-table issues

July 24

Democrats are still lost but one year after Biden's exit, they're starting to follow a rival's roadmap

Democrats could learn from both Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump by focusing on solutions rather than opponents, as party members venture into MAGA-friendly platforms.

July 2

Why Donald Trump’s 'big, beautiful bill' is a test for our democracy

The 'big, beautiful bill' divides America with 64% opposing it, as Republicans promise prosperity while Democrats warn of cuts amid a deepening crisis of trust in government.

June 27

Why every word counts: Language shapes our understanding of Trump's Iran strikes

The language used in discussing Iran strikes shapes public perception, political responses, and market reactions, highlighting how words define crises beyond mere communication.

June 21

The solution to our political divide is within each of us

Active empathy and assuming the best in others could heal America's political divide as we navigate protests and violent incidents that deepen our negativity about each other

May 21

Democrats' major messaging crisis: The party of opposition without solutions

Democrats face internal conflicts and continue to struggle to present a cohesive strategy. They need to shift from negative tactics to proactive solutions on key issues.

May 7, 2025

LEE CARTER: The secret sauce of Trump's success that continues to mystify his most ardent critics

To truly grasp Donald Trump, you need to step back—not just from the headlines but from the impulse to interpret every word, post, or proposal literally.

January 27, 2025

LEE CARTER: What Americans want from Donald Trump in the next four years

As the nation enters President Trump’s second (historic) term, it’s worth pausing to consider not just what he wants, but what Americans want from him. 

November 9, 2024

LEE CARTER: Election 2024's top lesson is about one crucial thing and we need to learn from it

Trump’s campaign wasn’t just about negativity—though it grabbed the most media attention. He asked a simple, resonant question: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

October 30, 2024

5 reasons why Kamala Harris' closing argument may give her a win

A key part of Kamala Harris’s message on Tuesday night was highlighting how her presidency would differ from Joe Biden’s. She has had trouble doing that in the past.

October 30, 2024

From Biden's 'garbage' to Trump’s 'losers.' Making sense of political insults in 2024

Biden and Harris have positioned themselves as the candidates of decency and civility. When they stray from that image, it feels hypocritical.

October 28, 2024

I was at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally — the left-wing media totally botched its coverage

What I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears at the Donald Trump MSG rally was nothing like what you’ve read in the mainstream media. Not even close.

October 3, 2024

Vance, Walz didn't sway undecided voters. Campaigns must do 2 things to close the deal

At the VP debate, both Vance and Walz offered a little something for everyone—but for those still weighing their options, there were no compelling reasons to change their minds.

September 18, 2024

Trump, Harris and two assassination attempts. Our election language crisis is spinning out of control

Less than 72 hours away from another assassination attempt, leaders are failing to take a pause to take the temperature down. Instead, they are ratcheting it up.

September 11, 2024

The two biggest losers at the Trump-Harris debate

Vice President Kamala Harris walked onto the debate stage with a mission to articulate a clear vision for how the next four years would be better than under President Biden. And former President Trump had a big job, too.

September 3, 2024

The rebranding of Kamala Harris. How 5 strategic shifts are changing the presidential election once again

With the Republican Party and Donald Trump focusing on personal freedom, Kamala Harris successfully reclaimed the narrative in August by emphasizing individual freedoms.