The public’s improving economic outlook is reflected in its policy agenda for President Trump and Congress in the coming year. Economic issues – improving the job situation, strengthening the economy and reducing the budget deficit – are viewed as less important policy priorities than they were just a few years […] Read more »
Why Trump voters need the immigrants they want to turn away
The irony in President Donald Trump’s hostility to immigration, expressed again in reports of his vulgar comments about Africa and Haiti last week, is that in appealing to the racial and cultural resentments of his political base he is directly threatening their economic interests. The equation is unmistakable: as America […] Read more »
Placing Priority: How Issues Mattered More than Demographics in the 2016 Election
Key Findings Viewing the electorate through the lens of issue priorities rather than through demographic variables yields valuable insights. Our analysis suggests that the mix of issue priorities revealed more about voter decision-making than demography. … The key issues driving the election, based on what voters found most important, were […] Read more »
An 11th-Hour Raid by the Wealthiest Baby Boomers
The baby boom is being evicted from the penthouse of American politics. And on the way out, it has decided to trash the place. That’s probably the best way to understand the generational implications of the tax legislation Republicans are driving through Congress. The House and Senate measures shower enormous […] Read more »
The Big Blue Losers in the GOP Tax Plans
It’s difficult to say whether the tax legislation Republicans are driving through Congress qualifies as a revenue bill—or an enemies list. It isn’t unusual for tax legislation to reward a political party’s supporters, and the GOP bill emphatically upholds that tradition by funneling its tax savings primarily toward business and […] Read more »
Change versus more of the same: On-going panel of target voting groups provides path for Democrats in 2018
There are big forces at work in the coming year that could produce an earthquake of an off-year election, including a parade of indictments, the GOP civil war playing out in Republican primaries, a congressional impasse on everything, a wrong track number nearing 75 percent and a presidential job approval […] Read more »