Economic Struggles and Political Sentiment Ahead of the Midterms

It’s a swing state with an open U.S. Senate seat, several competitive House races, an open gubernatorial seat — oh, and a potential leading 2028 candidate serving as governor. You may call it a political wonk’s dream; we call it Michigan. This week, as the battleground state’s political stars descended on idyllic Mackinac Island, the trends that will likely define 2026 across the nation came into full view. Live from the Mackinac Policy Conference, Playbook contributing author Adam Wren and supervising editor Zack Stanton talk through what they learned about the direction the campaign is heading. That, and President Donald Trump goes to Pennsylvania to trumpet the new U.S. Steel deal, while some leading Democrats head to South Carolina for a trial run of potential 2028 campaigns.