WASHINGTON (AP) – There’s a whole year of campaigning, positioning and politicking to go before the next campaign for president kicks off with the Iowa Caucus in early 2016. Ten things to look out for next year that might tell us something about how that campaign to come (which is really already underway) may shake out.
1. Courtrooms Before Campaigns
Three Republican governors who appear likely to run for president face legal issues at home that could derail a campaign before it gets started. Texas Gov. Rick Perry was indicted in August on two felony counts of abuse of power for publicly threatening to veto funding for public corruption prosecutors, and then making good on that threat. An investigation into alleged illegal coordination between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s 2012 recall campaign and conservative groups is on hold pending action from the state Supreme Court, while federal prosecutors in New Jersey continue to investigate what role Gov. Chris Christie’s administration played, if any, in tying up traffic on the George Washington Bridge in 2013.
2. Middle-Class Economics
The stock market is up, unemployment is down and economists are giddy about prospects for America’s economy to grow in 2015. But while economic indicators are glowing, how middle class voters benefit amid the recovery will shape the presidential campaign. So far, many have not: the typical American family’s income is 8 percent lower than it was before the recession hit in 2007. That helps, in part, explain President Barack Obama’s stagnant approval ratings, and could be a problem for Hillary Rodham Clinton or any other Democrat expected to defend his, and therefore the party’s management, of the economy.