Today began with a quiet but significant development: Gallup is getting out of the presidential approval rating business after more than eight decades. The company framed it as an evolution in research focus. Maybe it is. Maybe it is financial. But symbolically, it feels larger.
Polling has always been the invisible architecture of modern politics. No elected official will admit how deeply it shapes their decisions, but it does. If public-facing polling continues to shrink while private polling remains robust for those who can afford it, then public understanding of political reality narrows. That is not a partisan concern. It is structural. In a moment when politics is cultural monoculture, the data that informs it is becoming more exclusive.
Tariffs, House Defections, and the End of Legislative Momentum
The most immediate fight brewing in Congress right now is over President Trump’s 25 percent tariffs on Canadian goods. The White House expects Republican defections when the House votes on a resolution to overturn them. Importantly, the administration is not panicking. It believes it can avoid a two-thirds majority and preserve a veto, rendering the vote symbolic.
