For the last six weeks, I’ve been talking to voters in battleground America about the issues driving this election. My Swing State Debates series has covered the youth vote in Michigan, Jewish voters’ concerns in Pennsylvania, immigration sentiment in Arizona, views on race and racism in Wisconsin, and the education wars in Florida.
But I saved the really juicy stuff for last: Who’s ready to head to Ohio and talk tax policy?
I admit I worried that a debate about economics would lack the dramatic tension of my previous episodes. But in fact, this talk in Ohio—which went for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020—turned into a fascinating discussion about what it takes, and what it means, to live the American dream.
The economy tops Ohio voters’ list of concerns this election—as it has for the nation as a whole since 2004. This is true even though, by some measures, the U.S. economy is thriving. Consumer spending is strong, inflation is slowing, and earlier this year, our gross domestic product appeared to have made a full recovery from the pandemic. And yet, Americans still feel less well off.
