In 1977, Jimmy Carter made an improbable journey from Georgia peanut grower to Democratic president in part by playing on his humble roots and receiving support from America’s farmers. Yet this bedrock voting constituency abandoned a fellow farmer to back Ronald Reagan four years later, after Carter punished Moscow for […] Read more »
Divides Over Trade Scramble Midterm Election Messaging
President Trump’s trade policies enjoy the strong backing of his supporters but are less popular among independents, moderate Republicans and others whose votes could decide control of Congress in the midterm election this fall. That could complicate Republicans’ plans to make their economic record a central argument in their case […] Read more »
Economy helps Trump approval; his personality, especially among women, not so much
The thriving economy looks to be bolstering Donald Trump’s approval rating — but his personal unpopularity, especially among women, may be putting a ceiling on it. … His average approval rating after 15 months in office (38-57 percent approve/disapprove) is the lowest on record in polls dating to the Truman […] Read more »
Trade war threatens the GOP’s firewall in 2018
… The GOP’s dominance of small-town and rural America has become the indisputable geographic foundation of its power in Washington. And the party is counting on continued strength in those areas to contain its losses this fall, particularly after the repeated indications in a number of special and local elections […] Read more »
Farmers’ Anger at Trump Tariffs Puts Republican Candidates in a Bind
As President Trump moves to fulfill one of the central promises of his campaign — to get tough on an ascendant China — he faces a potential rebellion from a core constituency: farmers and other agricultural producers who could suffer devastating losses in a trade war. … While the battle […] Read more »
A Jacksonian Moment in U.S. Foreign Policy: Will it Last?
… “Jacksonian” is the term Walter Russell Mead coined in his 2002 book Special Providence to reflect a foreign policy tradition that was inward looking, shunned international engagement, but prepared to aggressively defend US national security if the country was threatened. … The Chicago Council, where I’m a nonresident fellow, […] Read more »