More and more, I’m sensing that the 2006 midterms, for better or worse, will be a Lou Dobbs election. (No single forum was more instrumental for aborting the Dubai ports deal than his.) The midterms will be fought not over cultural-war values like gay marriage or abortion, but over the sorts of economic and sovereignty issues Dobbs hammers on about every weeknight on CNN: the squeeze on the middle class; Washington’s runaway budgets and the explosion in deficit; the gutting of pensions; the hollowing-out of America’s industrial base; the war over immigration; globalization and free trade.
I’m not sure yet about the trade part, but we could well see “middle class” issues come to the fore, especially if health care and energy costs continue to climb. And immigration could heat up too, especially if we see gatherings Mexican-flag-waving demonstrators. I have a feeling that won’t go over to well in the “heartland.”