--- title: Election From Hell: Clinton, Trump and the Death of Civility description: Voters demand that politicians speak as angrily and as disrespectfully as the voters feel canonical: https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/ author: Frank Luntz article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-26T10:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:30.265Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Welcome to the Election From Hell og:description: Payback, not progress. Posturing, not policy. Catharsis, not consensus. og:url: https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f0e7f5ea1ec3f6/69889496196cf41f1a03bb8d/clinton-trump-civility-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Voters Cast Their Ballots In The Indiana Presidential Primary Election og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Welcome to the Election From Hell twitter:description: Payback, not progress. Posturing, not policy. Catharsis, not consensus. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f0e7f5ea1ec3f6/69889496196cf41f1a03bb8d/clinton-trump-civility-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Welcome to the Election From Hell > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. Readers can join any of them at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=51028fd3-7d7b-4c0d-b0a9-cf9a34b772ad&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### The seven newsletters | Newsletter | Covers | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | The Brief | The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors | Daily | | Inside TIME | A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories | Wednesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | Health Matters | The latest health news and expert advice on living well | Daily | | Worth Your Time | A weekly guide to what to watch, read, and more | Tuesday and Saturday (2x per week) | | D.C. Brief | Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | | Future Proof | Making sense of the climate and energy economy | Friday (1x per week) | | In the Loop | Essential insights into the unfolding AI revolution | Tuesday and Friday (2x per week) | Source: TIME, August 2026. ### Key data points | Metric | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Engaged newsletter audience | 1.1 million+ readers | TIME, August 2026 | | Newsletters published | 7 | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost to readers | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | US print circulation | 1 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Global print circulation | 1.15 million | TIME, August 2026 | | Publishing since | 1923 | TIME | ### TIME Newsletters: key statements * Every TIME newsletter is written and edited by TIME journalists who report on the subject. None is generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923. Its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting, so readers can trust what they read. * All seven newsletters are free. Readers pick the ones they want at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=51028fd3-7d7b-4c0d-b0a9-cf9a34b772ad&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). * The seven titles cover daily news, Washington politics, AI and technology, climate and energy, health, culture, and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/subscribe?i=51028fd3-7d7b-4c0d-b0a9-cf9a34b772ad&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What newsletters does TIME publish? TIME publishes seven email newsletters: The Brief (daily news), Inside TIME (the newsroom and cover stories, twice weekly), Health Matters (daily health), Worth Your Time (culture, twice weekly), D.C. Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: What A Clinton vs Trump Debate Might Look Like [Watch (HLS stream): What A Clinton vs Trump Debate Might Look Like](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jeUYQHqg.m3u8) (2:04)  _Published 2016-03-31_ by [Frank Luntz](https://time.com/author/frank-luntz/) ## Frank Luntz May 26, 2016 10:00 AM UTC  A "Vote Here" sign stands outside a polling station during the presidential primary vote in South Bend, Indiana, U.S., on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. A "Vote Here" sign stands outside a polling station during the presidential primary vote in South Bend, Indiana, U.S., on Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Daniel Acker—Bloomberg /Getty Images by [Frank Luntz](https://time.com/author/frank-luntz/) ## Frank Luntz May 26, 2016 10:00 AM UTC As a professional focus group moderator, I’m about to make an admission that could cost me clients and even a career: I’ve lost control. Northeastern moms are mad. California Tree Huggers are ticked off. Born Again Iowans are irate. I’ve led three dozen focus groups in more than a dozen states this year, and trying to moderate and mediate a sensible discussion about politics has become like feeding time at the crocodile enclosure. The moment a contentious topic is introduced, a cacophony of voices spew forward in rapid crescendo, each one louder and more breathless than the last. Within minutes, everyone is yelling, no one is listening and nothing is resolved. The public may despise most members of Congress, but we’ve sure gotten good at emulating them. Welcome to the election from hell. Moms used to be my go-to group when clients needed information relevant to their product or service and I needed to hear some sanity, empathy and common sense. No longer. The session I hosted for [CBS This Morning](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/snapchat-frank-luntz-poll-young-voters-bernie-sanders-2016-race/) earlier this month with mostly moms was an utter train wreck. Many of the exchanges ended up on the cutting room floor because three, four, even five women talked at the same time with a critical tone usually reserved for their husbands. I entered the studio with excitement and anticipation, and left with a headache. Today, our politics reside in an intellectual cul-de-sac. People only want to hear themselves pontificate, or listen to those who confirm, affirm, and validate. Proof? How many [Democrats regularly listen to Fox News](http://hotair.com/archives/2013/07/08/gallup-just-two-percent-of-democrats-name-msnbc-as-their-main-news-source/)? How many [Republicans frequently tune into MSNBC](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/msnbc-ratings/)? Thirty years ago, voters rewarded politicians who spoke with vision and compassion about a “shining city on a hill,” “a thousand points of light,” or ”I feel your pain.” As recently as four years ago, we sought presidential candidates who were ultimately respectful, presidential, and statesmanlike. Yet today, both presumptive nominees are so equally distrusted and despised by polarized sections of the electorate that their most effective message is: _well, at least I’m not \[insert other candidate\]._ As for the voters, they demand that politicians speak as angrily and as disrespectfully as they feel. Anything less, in their words, is politics or pandering. A good illustration occurred a few days before the decisive Indiana primary when Donald Trump crushed the remaining, flailing opposition to his candidacy. I hosted a GOP focus group of Republican voters for [_The Kelly File_.](http://time.com/4326784/megyn-kelly-donald-trump-fox-news/) What happened below never made air, but it should have: --- > “” --- Remember, these were Hoosiers. The people of Indiana are among the friendliest, most gentle-natured people in America ([Bobby Knight](http://www.businessinsider.com/bobby-knight-bizarre-introduction-donald-trump-2016-4) excluded). But when it comes to politics in ‘16, the mood is _anything_ but gentle: Everyone’s angry, everyone has a target for that rage—and everyone wants revenge. The underlying principle that explains candidate messaging and voter rancor this year: someone has to be punished. I call it the American Anger Agenda—a litany of people and policies that have wronged us in some way and need to be held up for mockery and ridicule. Similarly, voters endorse candidates whose mission is to inflict pain, not _feel_ it; candidates who give voice and volume to their outrage. Hillary Clinton gets the most applause when she attacks her opponents, rather than putting forward her own agenda. The same with Trump, obviously, and even Sanders. The mentality of the 2016 voter is both clear and contagious: _It’s our turn now, and we don’t care if we offend you. In fact, we have been so ignored and so disrespected for so long that we actually WANT to offend you._ _You’re all the same_. But what they mean is, Y_ou are nothing like me. You don’t understand my life or what it’s like to walk in my shoes._ I asked that Indiana Republican focus group if they would accept or reject a Republican Congressional candidate who refused to endorse Donald Trump. The answer: an emphatic rejection. And it’s about more than party unity. It was because a refusal to endorse Trump—in their minds—just shows such candidates are trying to protect their own careers, the establishment and the status quo. They’re afraid Trump’s going to blow Washington up, and they’re cowards who don’t fight for people like them. Trump voters are matched by Sanders supporters—who together form a majority of all Americans—in believing there is no real difference between the two parties, that both are gripped by professional politicos and special interests that are choking off the foundations of democracy. That is why the salience of both Trump and Sanders turning their back on the rivers of gold from Super PACs and Wall Street is so strong—and it unites the supporters of these seemingly diametrically-opposed candidates. What I see and hear, night after night is all about passion, not compassion. It’s about catharsis, not consensus. Payback, not progress. Posturing, not policy. In today’s social media, talk radio, cable news-driven campaigns, where reason and emotion collide in politics, emotion usually triumphs. And we are in the midst of a campaign of demonization and destruction—and every topic and person is fair game thanks to voter encouragement. From “[Low Energy Jeb](http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/270173-ten-moments-that-doomed-jeb-bushs-presidential-campaign)” to “[Little Marco](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/04/20/little-marco-lying-ted-crooked-hillary-donald-trumps-winning-strategy-nouns/)” to “Lyin’ Ted,” Donald Trump has taken [character-labeling and personal attacks ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-escalates-attack-on-bill-clinton/2016/05/23/ed109acc-2100-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972%5Fstory.html)to a new level— and straight to the Republican nomination. To my shock, the more Trump insulted and excoriated those who stood in his way, the _more_ laughter and head-nodding I saw from Republicans. When I reminded participants of Reagan’s 11th Commandment, “[thou shalt not attack another Republican](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5FEleventh%5FCommandment%5F%28Ronald%5FReagan%29),” they were unmoved. “These establishment Republicans deserve it,” was the most common response. On the Democratic side, it has gone beyond harsh words to actual violence. At the [Nevada Democratic convention](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/131ea921d2a74a60ada40307b79c735c/nevada-democrats-sanders-campaign-has-violent-streak) earlier this month, over a dozen police officers had to be called in to keep the peace. The party’s state headquarters was vandalized the next day, and the state party chairwoman had to accept a security detail because she was receiving death threats from people nominally on her _own_ side. At Trump rallies coast-to-coast, liberal activists openly embrace screaming over their opponent in an attempt to silence him. And it’s only May. We still have two conventions, three debates and more than five months to go. I am fearful of expressing my concern publicly about the poison and toxicity of American politics. Democrats will claim I’m shedding crocodile tears, and Republicans will say I’m a wimp. So allow me to close with the hopeful words of one of my Hoosier participants, a rare voice of reason in a dark sea of negativity: --- > “” --- Can the American people come together after a race which will be as divisive and destructive as it is car-crash compelling? Don’t hold your breath. ## Transcript I beat Hillary Clinton in many polls, the queue poll just came out. America didn't stop being great. We have to make it whole again. I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton. I have not started on Hillary yet. Believe me, I will start soon. [ APPLAUSE ] I haven't even started. If you don't get an actual check From the Mexican government for 8 or 10 or $ 12 billion, whatever it will cost. How are you going to make them pay for the wall? I will. He's talking about a very tall wall. And the wall just got ten feet taller. That would run the entire border. Paid for by Mexico. That he would somehow get the Mexican government to pay for. We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. You know it's just Fantasy. [ NOISE ] I would work quickly to present to the Congress my plans for raising the minimum wage. Taxes too high, wages too high. Well, you know both Bill and I have been very blessed, neither of us came from wealthy families, and we've worked really hard our entire lives. I took one million dollars and I turned it into Okay, one million ten billion dollars. I've come up with a tax plan that many, many people like Now- Very. [ NOISE ] They may not care much about their lives, but they do care, believe it or not, about their family's lives. [ APPLAUSE ] A diplomacy is not about getting to the perfect solution- We need tough people, we need toughness. It's about how you balance the risk. I would bring back water boarding. And I'd bring back a helluva lot worse, than what we're boarding. We will not send American combats groups back to Syria or Iraq, that is off the table. We talk about Iran and that's one of the worst deals ever made I'm asking people to support me because I think I'm the most qualified, most experienced and ready person to be the President. If I'm elected to be President We will win and we will win and we will win. Thank you. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/"},"headline":"Welcome to the Election From Hell","datePublished":"2016-05-26T10:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:30.265Z","description":"Voters demand that politicians speak as angrily and as disrespectfully as the voters feel","url":"https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/","keywords":["politics","society","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f0e7f5ea1ec3f6/69889496196cf41f1a03bb8d/clinton-trump-civility-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Frank Luntz","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/frank-luntz/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5f0e7f5ea1ec3f6/69889496196cf41f1a03bb8d/clinton-trump-civility-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Voters Cast Their Ballots In The Indiana Presidential Primary Election","caption":"A \"Vote Here\" sign stands outside a polling station during the presidential primary vote in South Bend, Indiana, U.S., on Tuesday, May 3, 2016.","creditText":"Daniel Acker—Bloomberg /Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/","name":"Welcome to the Election From Hell"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What A Clinton vs Trump Debate Might Look Like","description":"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jeUYQHqg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-31T16:44:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jeUYQHqg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/","duration":"PT2M4S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4346173/clinton-trump-election-hell/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```