Political consulting isn't punditry. And so many don't know the difference. No one knows what's going to happen next. If they do, they're selling something you shouldn't buy. Most consultants who try to say they know what will happen next aren't spending a lot of time studying what happened last. That is to say, study the things that undergird political choices. Class. Economics. Political economy, writ large. Culture, though for the love of everything holy don't tell us it's "upstream from politics". Politics is American culture; always has been and hopefully will be; though less acrimoniously. [[Four principal characteristics of a Political Idea|Political ideas]] have a lot of power, but properly understood they work more like [[Steve Earle Conservatism]] than [[Five categories of political rhetoric#2. A reductive policy point.| reductive policy points.]] We were formed as a body politic arguing with each other over fundamental questions, hopefully instead of shooting one another. May it always be so.