LARRY KUDLOW: For the midterms, it’s still early in the game
Lots of smart people think President Trump and the Republicans have a very steep uphill climb if they expect to win the midterms, especially the House. Newt Gingrich thinks if the election were today the GOP would lose. I’ve been exhorting GOP leaders to tout the red-hot economy with numbers and repetition, as often as possible, at every campaign stop.
More positive numbers came out today for the Institute for Supply Managers, where the combined purchasing managers’ indexes for manufacturing and services are the best they’ve been in nearly two years. And there’s a business boom. And there’s a productivity boom. And wages are outstripping inflation. Yet it’s a story that has got to be told, including the Trump Accounts, which can turn working-class minority children into millionaires. Where the next generation of youngsters can be a nation of owners, democratizing stock ownership, and understanding the miracles of free-market capitalism. That, too, is a story that has to be told over and over again.
Yet not all is lost. The latest Harvard CAPS Harris poll shows some improvement in personal financial situations, and though it’s still underwater, it’s getting better. That same poll shows a strong support for Mr. Trump closing the border. And 73 percent say criminal illegal aliens should be deported, 67 percent say local jails should hand over criminal illegals to federal authorities for deportation, which is exactly what the border czar, Tom Homan, is trying to do. And roughly 60 percent see the Democrats as encouraging resistance to deporting criminal illegals.
Another part of that poll shows that 60 percent favor a platform described as reduced government spending, lower taxes, tougher trade deals, lower prescription drug costs, and a closed border, which is of course, the Trump package. And only 40 percent prefer more government spending, liberal immigration, more taxes, and higher healthcare subsidies. Polls are not votes, but good polls are informative.
And finally, money matters. Politico is reporting that Mr. Trump raised $26 million through his joint fundraising committee in the back half of last year. And another $8 million directly into his leadership political action committee. A super PAC linked to him has more than $300 million in the bank. That’s a lot of money. All in, they estimate the president’s orbit has $375 million of firepower. And the president is outstripping everybody in fundraising by a long shot.
So, all is not lost. It’s still early in the game.