Welcome to the Winston Group, a strategic consulting and research firm in Washington, D.C. Our site offers in-depth analysis on key policy issues that inform decision-makers and industry leaders. Explore our site content that includes political and election analysis, insights into policy issues, inflation trends, and videos. We invite you to return often for timely, data-driven perspectives.

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Roll Call: Connecting The Dots On The Economy

The Winston Group’s David Winston in today’s Roll Call with the latest on the economy and what we know about how wages have changed relative to prices, gas prices, and the jobs outlook. For Trump and Republicans, however, the biggest challenge remains the economic speed bumps that continue to plague the administration’s efforts to fix the failed Biden economy.  Even before the mission in Iran began, the country’s economic picture had become more difficult to

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Policy and Politics

Second Time Around For A Government Shutdown?

Neither party came out of last fall’s shutdown as a winner, but Democrats took more hits than Republicans. From our tracking for Winning the Issues, our November post-shutdown survey showed that Republicans ended the shutdown at 37-58 favorable-unfavorable, and in January, are currently at 41-53 fav-unfav. Democrats ended the shutdown

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The Politics Of The Status Quo May Be Near A Breaking Point

After the longest government shutdown in history, voter frustration with the political system is high. Both parties are viewed negatively, and among independents, the unfavorables of both parties are close to 70% (Republicans in Congress, 25-68; Democrats in Congress, 23-68). Reflecting the frustration with the status quo, independent voters are

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What’s Next After The Shutdown?

The longest federal government shutdown in history is over, with Democrats getting very little in the end. From our new numbers for Winning the Issues (November 15-17), the shutdown was overwhelmingly seen as not worth it (67%) rather than worth it (17%). Only 17% of liberal Democrats and 14% of Democrats said the shutdown was

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Progress On The Economy

One of the key questions going into the midterm election will be this: have Republicans made progress on the economy? Since November of last year, we have seen the direction of economy improve slightly from 31-58 to 36-51 in January. This is still a negative view, but going in the

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Are Republicans Turning The Corner On The Economy?

The newest BLS numbers for inflation and weekly wages (from December) showed that November’s positive numbers were sustained. This change has largely been as a result of decreased gas prices, and has only emerged in the last two BLS monthly reports. As seen in our most recent survey for Winning

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Where Is The Political Will On Education?

At the end of February, the assessment company NWEA released a report detailing their latest findings on learning loss recovery. The results painted a familiar picture. From their analysis of fall 2024 data, a third of schools have recovered in either math or reading, while only one in seven have

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What The Latest ACS Data Tell Us About School Enrollment

At the end of January, the Census Bureau released the results of its American Community Survey (ACS), a trove of data about several aspects of American life. This week, we take a look at the latest ACS estimates on K-12 school enrollment (ACS 1-year estimates for 2024) and compare them

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What Keeps Higher Ed Leaders Up At Night?

The American Council on Education (ACE) has released its Winter Term Pulse Points Survey. These latest data examine the perspectives of higher education leaders across a variety of issues, revealing their priorities and concerns for the coming year. As part of the survey, leaders were presented with a series of

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Roll Call: Connecting The Dots On The Economy

The Winston Group’s David Winston in today’s Roll Call with the latest on the economy and what we know about how wages have changed relative to prices, gas prices, and the jobs outlook. For Trump and Republicans, however, the biggest challenge remains the economic speed bumps that continue to plague

Read More »

Roll Call: Trump’s Big Bet on Operation Epic Fury

The Winston Group’s David Winston’s latest column for Roll Call on the United States’ military action in Iran. The domestic political implications of Operation Epic Fury await its conclusion. Eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat is an objective that Republicans supported during Operation Midnight Hammer and most support now. Given Trump’s campaign promise to

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