ECONOMY/ELECTION/POLLS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It may have been the most normal 22 minutes of the Trump presidency. A White House number cruncher armed with charts and piles of data appeared before reporters to tell the tale of a gangbuster economy and credit the sitting president’s policies. Kevin Hassett, the cheery chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, had quite a story to tell after being asked by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to explain ‘America’s economic winning streak.’ He reached beyond standard growth and jobs numbers to invoke a roaring Trump boom, enthusing over capital investment, business optimism, capital goods shipments and the purchasing managers index. History suggests that such good news ought to translate into a political as well as an economic winning streak for the GOP heading into nettlesome midterm elections and even a glide path for a carefree re-election for President Donald Trump himself. Yet, something is not quite adding up. A president who claims he is responsible for the best economy in American history is sitting on historically low and worsening approval ratings. A new CNN/SSRS poll put him at 36%, down six points in a month. Democrats appear to have a better than even chance of winning the House and some pundits think the Senate might even be in play. The President has no doubt he can buck the ill omens.”
–Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s economy is roaring — but the controversies around him are drowning it out,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, September 11, 2018 6:51 am