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The Focus Factor In The Closing Argument
Six weeks out from the election, our new survey for Winning the Issues (September 12-16) shows an alarming environment for Republicans. The economy is overwhelmingly seen as headed in the wrong direction (28-64 right direction-wrong track). Inflation is seen as getting worse (67%) rather than better (13%) or not changing (18%). Republicans are down -7 on handling the economy, -12 on handling inflation, and -12 on handling tariffs. Messaging Looking at what voters heard from
Latest Posts
The Latest Voter Outlook On Higher Education
Washington Examiner: Are GOP Doomers Overreacting?
Roll Call: Voters To Republicans: Fix The Biden Economy
Policy and Politics
The Focus Factor In The Closing Argument
Six weeks out from the election, our new survey for Winning the Issues (September 12-16) shows an alarming environment for Republicans. The economy is overwhelmingly seen as headed in the wrong direction (28-64 right direction-wrong track). Inflation is seen as getting worse (67%) rather than better (13%) or not changing
Republican Trouble In Ohio
In August of last year, Sherrod Brown announced he was a launching a comeback campaign after his defeat in 2024, leading many Republicans to scoff at the idea. In an August 2025 blog post, we wrote: Although Ohio has seen an increasing trend of Republican party ID, Republicans should take Brown’s
Winners and Losers: Campaign Ad Spending In Four Senate Primaries
Recent Senate primaries have revealed some interesting trends about campaign ad spending. As we have seen in Florida, Minnesota, Michigan and Texas, there are signs that millions being spent on campaign ads may be reaching their limits. The chart shows ad spending by or on behalf of each candidate. Florida: Socialist
The Wall Street Journal: The Republican Party Is Losing Its Edge With Voters on the Economy
The Winston Group’s David Winston was recently featured in an article from The Wall Street Journal about cost-of-living worries and how the preference for Republicans to handle economic issues has started to slip. If Democrats win by double digits among independents and can sustain leads on the economy, a Blue
GOP’s Big Opportunity With 127 Million Filers: The Standard Deduction
In efforts to sell their Big Beautiful Bill, Republicans have focused more of their messaging on no tax on tips and overtime, but they may be missing their biggest opportunity to reach the most people with the standard deduction. The IRS says that about 90% of tax filers — 127
Are Tax Cuts Depriving The Government Of Needed Revenue?
Republicans have just passed the one year mark of their signature legislative accomplishment, The Big Beautiful Bill. One of the main Democratic criticisms of the BBB and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is that tax cuts “deprive the federal government of needed revenue.” Given the nation’s bleak fiscal
The Latest Voter Outlook On Higher Education
Colleges and universities have found themselves facing new challenges over the last year, a sentence we’ve written — in one form or another — about higher education several times over the last several years. The forecasted demographic cliff is starting or soon to hit. To boost enrollment, some schools are
New PISA Results: Reading A Continued Struggle For US Students
The Tuesday after the unofficial end of summer brought news that was on balance bad, but not wholly unexpected from the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results. The biggest headline was in reading. Between 2022 and 2025, US 15-year-olds’ reading scores dropped a precipitous 14 points. This mirrors
“Are The Schools Ready?” “Ready For What?”
In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Kim Strassel, Center for Education Reform founder Jeanne Allen spoke at length about all the positive developments related to school choice happening around the country. As she discussed the current environment, Allen also described the dynamics of the last several years
Roll Call: Voters To Republicans: Fix The Biden Economy
In his latest column for Roll Call, The Winston Group’s David Winston writes that Republican candidates need to focus their own message on the economy. This means pointing out that progress has been made but acknowledging a lot more needs to be done. And, most importantly, defining what Republicans plan
Roll Call: Trump On The Ballot – Will It Help Republicans?
At last week’s GOP convention, President Trump implored his supporters to pretend he’s on the ballot. Will that help Republicans? In his latest column for Roll Call, the Winston Group’s David Winston digs into previous elections to answer that question, and analyzes how presidential job approval comes into play in
The Ripon Forum: The Political Landscape for Republicans Heading into the Fall
In their essay for the latest edition of The Ripon Forum, The Winston Group’s David Winston and Myra Miller assess the political environment for Republicans as the midterms approach. While it is typically difficult for the incumbent president’s party in a midterm cycle, they write that 2026 is not a