Free Republic

In Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — all tight races — we see the larger contours of the entire presidential contest ahead of the first Harris-Trump debate. What makes these states close? We'll unpack some of the factors that stand out, including who's seen as better for key voter groups, who voters think has the cognitive health to serve and what to make of the campaign and social-media rhetoric. One one hand: Trump leads with voters who just don't think they're better off financially since the pandemic, whose incomes aren't keeping up with inflation and especially with non-college and White voters...

Economic expertise and crisis management skills are top qualities Democratic voters want to see in a vice-presidential pick for their party - even more so than executive or legislative experience - as concerns about the pandemic and the economy now become a lens through which voters see that selection process. Those criteria become even more important to Democrats who are very concerned about either their own job losses, or contracting the coronavirus themselves. Elizabeth Warren is well atop Democratic voters' list of those who should be considered for vice president - with 71% saying she should be - and Warren...

More Americans overall disapprove than approve of President Donald Trump's import tariffs on steel and aluminum, but Republicans back the president, and they believe the U.S. would come out ahead if a trade war were to ensue. A majority of Democrats and a plurality of independents disapprove of the new tariff measures, while two-thirds of Republicans approve.