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As Midterms Loom, Trump May Have Shifted Reliably Dem States Into GOP's Column

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“It’s the economy, stupid.”

Back in 1992, that quip — coined by liberal strategist James Carville — become the informal slogan of Bill Clinton. By focusing on the languishing economy, the Democrat challenger was able to keep President Bush to a single term, and established the Clinton political dynasty.

Almost three decades later, it’s still the economy, stupid … but this time, it’s the Republicans who might be able to ride that slogan to electoral victory.

“President Trump did the impossible in 2016 by breaking the so-called ‘Rust Belt’ states with his winning of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin,” pointed out Paul Bois of The DailyWire on Monday.

“Two years later, has voting for Trump paid off for those residents?” he asked. “The numbers say yes.”

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Indeed, there is strong evidence that the booming Trump economy has been especially positive in blue-collar states that Democrats have previously considered to be pretty safe.

“The 37 states that (the Bureau of Labor Statistics) said had statistically significant jobs increases from September to September included Pennsylvania (which added 78,700 jobs) and most of the states in the northern Midwest,” reported CNSNews.

“Ohio, for example, added 104,600 jobs during the September-to-September period; Michigan added 63,300; Illinois added 50,300; Wisconsin added 41,700; Minnesota added 38,200; and Iowa added 17,600,” the news outlet explained.

That source also pointed out that Ohio’s job gains over the last year are the best they’ve been since 1997. Who was the president then? Bill Clinton.

Do you believe the economy will be a top voting issue in 2018 and 2020?

It wasn’t that long ago that states like Michigan were looking downright gloomy, with no end of economic misery in sight. Blue-collar states like the mitten aren’t yet back to their peak, but things are looking night and day better than they did during the Obama years.

“Michigan’s unemployment rate fell by a tenth of a percentage point to 4.0 percent in September,” reported the Associated Press last week.

For comparison, that number approached a staggering 14 percent during the first term of Obama.

“(T)otal employment in Michigan rose slightly by 1,000 during the month while the number of unemployed fell by 8,000,” the AP stated.

It’s a similar story in other Midwestern states like Wisconsin, where “comeback kid” Gov. Scott Walker is trying to win election to a third term after taking on the unions and establishing a reputation as a pro-jobs leader.

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“The state Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday that Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was 3 percent in September,” said the AP. It’s peak under Obama? Three times as high.

All of this adds up to one conclusion: If the “economy, stupid” factor is as still as powerful as it was in ’92, there could be a lot of red on the election map — and that goes for this November as well as 2020.

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Benjamin Arie is an independent journalist and writer. He has personally covered everything ranging from local crime to the U.S. president as a reporter in Michigan before focusing on national politics. Ben frequently travels to Latin America and has spent years living in Mexico.




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