Is Donald Trump the next Jimmy Carter?

[Angrie]

I don't really see it.  Carter was the last hurrah of the old New Deal workers' rights alignment.  Trump is an attempt at something very new and different.  The analogy would work a lot better were Jeb Bush the R nominee.

Trump could similarly be seen as the last hurrah of the old Southern Strategy.

If Trump narrowly wins in 2016, and then loses in 2020, Republicans could follow up in 2024 and 2028 by nominating Mondale and Dukakis equivalents who would lose in landslides. Finally, this would be followed up by a moderate reformer in the Bill Clinton mold in 2032, who would finally lead the GOP away from the racialized southern strategy.

[Angrie]

Like I said, if Trump wins, he could be seen as a last hurrah of the southern strategy, similar to Carter as a last hurrah of the New Deal strategy.

Obama does make sense as being the Democrats' Nixon. Liberals hated Nixon at the time, but now look back fondly and somewhat ironically at him for having implemented some actually liberal policies such as the EPA and Clean Air Act. Similarly, Conservatives hate Obama now, but might look back fondly on Obama for having implemented giveaways to private corporations like Romneycare/Obamacare. There's also the opening to China by Nixon and the opening to Cuba by Obama.

As others have said, Bernie is probably too old to be the next Reagan. Then again, everyone thought that Reagan was too old at the time, and there is better medical technology now. If you correct for medical advances, Bernie may be similarly old to Reagan (?).

If not Bernie, who would carry on the torch in 2020? Elizabeth Warren has the same age issues as Bernie. Keith Ellison/Tulsi Gabbard ticket in 2020? After 8 years of that, Gabbard then becomes President. But similarly to Bush I, she really only cares about foreign policy, and the economy suffers while she gets involved in a short seemingly-victorious war which will eventually lead to new long term entanglements.

[Angrie]

Like I said, if Trump wins, he could be seen as a last hurrah of the southern strategy, similar to Carter as a last hurrah of the New Deal strategy.

Uh, if Trump wins, it will pretty much mean the end of the Southern strategy, sock.

Well, now that Trump has in fact won, I think a good way to describe it would be to be the nationalization of the southern strategy. The country as a whole is now the south.