State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

For or Against Trump? The Question 2018 Candidates for Governor Can't Escape

Governing: There's a certain set of issues that every candidate running for governor knows he or she will have to address -- creating jobs, improving schools, paying for health care. In 2018, there's one more thing they'll have to take a position on: President Donald Trump.

Many Republicans are trying to outdo one another in their levels of rhetorical support for the president, while most Democrats are doing their best to excoriate him.

"President Trump is now our nation's political touchstone," says Thad Kousser, a political scientist at the University of California, San Diego. "The clearest way to communicate your values to the voters and to energize them is to declare yourself either a staunch ally or a steadfast opponent of the president."

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