Theo Anderson is an In These Times contributing writer. He has a Ph.D. in modern U.S. history from Yale and writes on the intellectual and religious history of conservatism and progressivism in the United States. Follow him on Twitter @Theoanderson7.
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The Right-Wing Machine Behind the Curtain
The radical conservative Heritage Foundation has spent 40 years trying to gut the federal budget. Now Trump is proving to be the perfect tool.
Theo Anderson
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Republicans Are Legislating Like There’s No Tomorrow
Forget about the future. The GOP just wants what it wants—now.
Theo Anderson
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Resister’s Digest: How to Join the Fight Against the GOP’s Trumpcare
Events are taking place all over the country this week.
Theo Anderson
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Cities Go Rogue Against Trump and the Radical Right
In a sea of red, blue enclaves test their power to rebel.
Theo Anderson
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Stop Telling Us To Be Terrified. We Should Be Pissed.
Fear makes us freeze. Anger makes us fight back.
Theo Anderson
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Mike Pence, Betsy DeVos and the Klan’s Long Shadow
The extremism of their agenda contains the seeds of its undoing.
Theo Anderson
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Bernie Sanders Schools Ted Cruz on Why We Need “Medicare for All”
CNN's Obamacare debate opened up fundamental questions that Republicans would rather avoid--like how to make healthcare access universal.
Theo Anderson
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How the Left’s Long March Back Will Begin in the States
Progressives’ answer to ALEC is helping to build power from the ground up.
Theo Anderson
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Why Is the GOP Obsessed with Two 1950s Russian Expat Thinkers?
Mike Pence and Paul Ryan look to the past for inspiration.
Theo Anderson
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Progressives Are the New Silent Majority
Most Americans actually prefer progressive policies—so how did we get here?
Theo Anderson
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Bernie Sanders Helps Lead National Day of Action to Defend Obamacare from GOP Repeal
Protesters rally in cities nationwide, promising to fight for the long haul.
Theo Anderson
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How Hopelessness Helped Elect Donald Trump
The president-elect performed well in places with the highest rates of death from suicide and drug abuse.
Theo Anderson
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Democrats: It’s Time for a Contract with American Workers
Republicans are in power because they had a plan. The Left needs one, too.
Theo Anderson
Culture
What We Can Learn From the Pacifist Movement Against World War I
Although they failed to keep us out of the war, they organized effectively in conditions frighteningly similar to our own.
Theo Anderson
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How Corporations Rig the Rules and Crush Dissent
A new book by Gordon Lafer shines a spotlight on the super-rich.
Theo Anderson
Culture
The High Priest of the Church of Trump
How Stephen Bannon is using evangelical narratives to spread the gospel of Trumpism.
Theo Anderson
Labor
Income Inequality Is off the Charts. Can Local Policies Make a Difference?
Theo Anderson
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The GOP Made Kansas a Test Case for Faith-Based Economics. The Results Aren’t Pretty.
Many of the same policies that blew a hole in the state budget are headed to the White House.
Theo Anderson
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Maine Leads the Nation in Campaign Finance Reform
The head of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections talks about the corrupting influence of money in politics and what we can do about it.
Theo Anderson
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How an Entitled Clinton and the “Politics of Resentment” Gave Us Trump
Some lessons only become clear with time, but the 2016 election has already taught us a lot about our differences.
Theo Anderson
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How Inequality Guts Democracy, Suppresses the Vote And Keeps the GOP in Power
If you're poor, you're more likely to prefer Democrats, but not vote. If you're affluent, you're more likely to favor Republicans and actually vote.
Theo Anderson
Labor
The Bright Spots for Workers Amid Tuesday’s Disastrous Election
Theo Anderson
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What Trump’s Victory Tells Us: The Culture Wars Continue, But There’s a New “Wedge”
Trump used economics as a wedge issue in a novel way for the GOP, while submerging the old social issues.
Theo Anderson
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Raising Hell in Arizona: Talia Fuentes Has a Plan to Revolutionize the Red State
The 31-year-old Berniecrat is running to represent Arizona's 5th Congressional District.
Theo Anderson
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These Are the Ballot Measures To Pay Attention To If You’re a Progressive
Key initiatives cover marijuana, plastic bags, the minimum wage, healthcare, campaign finance and election reforms.
Theo Anderson
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The Democrats Abandon the White Working Class to Trump At Their Own Peril
The idea that the working class is a lost cause becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for the Democratic Party.
Theo Anderson
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Lone Star Uprising: Texas is Turning Blue. But There’s a Lot More to the Story Than That.
Demographic changes are transforming the state’s economy, creating serious challenges to its economic prowess.
Theo Anderson
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Neither Clinton Nor Trump Is the Great Pumpkin
On the 50th anniversary of the Charlie Brown classic, politics reminds us that hope isn’t always an asset.
Theo Anderson
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In Raging Battle for North Carolina, Progressives Push Back
The state seems to sum up both the worst and the best of American politics.
Theo Anderson
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Trump Backers Who Said Bill Clinton’s Sex Life Ruined the Country Are Now Standing By Their Man
Politicians and pundits who waxed poetic about Bill Clinton’s illicit sex apparently see no problem with Trump's behavior.
Theo Anderson
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Trump Will Lose the Election. But He May Still Win the War.
Trump is laying groundwork for the long game. It isn’t clear Clinton has one.
Theo Anderson
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The Scott Walker Scandal Shows the Political Sewer Created by Citizens United
The pernicious effects are taking deep root and fostering cultures of corruption at all levels of government.
Theo Anderson
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The Untapped Power of the Other One Percent
Ralph Nader’s latest book is a how-to guide for fighting corporate power.
Theo Anderson
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Mike Pence Struggles to Defend Donald Trump’s Record
Without the toxic personality of his running mate by his side, Pence seemed naked.
Theo Anderson
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This Is the Question That Will Decide the 2016 Election
Clinton talks about incremental change; Trump says the whole system is corrupt.
Theo Anderson
Culture
A Brief History of the Right’s Racist Hate: From 1885 to Trump
The road to Trumpism is paved with scapegoats.
Theo Anderson
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Wells Fargo Shows Exactly How Structural Racism Works
The company’s history offers a glimpse into the gears of structural racism and the broader culture of corruption within the banking industry.
Theo Anderson
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A Progressive Wave Rolls Through Rhode Island With 4 Working Families Party Wins
The winning candidates believed “the Democratic Party wasn't representing their values." They were right.
Theo Anderson
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Our Most Vital Infrastructure Isn’t “Crumbling.” It Hasn’t Been Built Yet.
To fight climate change, we need a new vision for green transit.
Theo Anderson
Labor
150 Million Workers in India Just Staged the Largest Strike in History To Resist Neoliberalism
Theo Anderson
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Using Elections to Rage Against—And Reform—the Democratic Machine
The authors of a new book talk about how progressives can win elections in the 21st century.
Theo Anderson
Culture
The Stories We Live By: Why the White Working Class Votes Conservative
In Strangers in Their Own Land, sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild travels south to study what gives conservative ideology its power.
Theo Anderson
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How Trump Has Transformed the War for Religious Liberty
The infrastructure built up to support the religious liberty crusade is still intact. But Trump’s campaign has exposed a deep vulnerability of the Right.
Theo Anderson
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Small Stage, Big Impact: Former SNL Cast Member Gary Kroeger on Why He’s Running for Office
The progressive Democrat is hoping to carry forward Bernie Sanders' revolution in Iowa.
Theo Anderson
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Why Trump Puts the Utah Senate Race in Play for Progressives. Yes, Utah.
Misty K. Snow believes a storm is gathering that will shatter the status quo.
Theo Anderson
Labor
It’s the Stupidity, Stupid: How Donald Trump is Beating the Democrats on Trade
Theo Anderson
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Trump Has Concocted a Dangerous New Blend of Pseudo-Leftism and Nativist Populism
The RNC showed Republicans are moving in a new, and frightening, direction.
Theo Anderson
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‘Make America Great Again’ Is All That’s Left Holding the GOP Together
Donald Trump’s shallow slogan also shows his strength.
Theo Anderson