Eat Cheese and Die

How Politics Soured Community—and Conversation—in Wisconsin

We hear so much about presidential candidates–and so little about life in the states that elect them. In “Beyond the Circus,” writers take us off the trail and give us glimpses of politically important places. Today, Wisconsin.

Something strange is happening in Wisconsin. In parking lots and on front lawns. In the aisles of corner grocery stores and on highways. On Facebook and bar stools.

People are behaving badly.

You have to understand Wisconsin to get how unusual this is. Because Wisconsinites are nice. You can call them naïve. You can dismiss their …