ABOUT THOSE TRUMP TARIFFS — Twelve days until the U.S. election and a new poll finds broad support for DONALD TRUMP’s tariffs among Republican voters — and enough buy-in from the public that Canadians should raise an eyebrow. Or two. An Ipsos poll fielded ahead of tonight’s Public Policy Forum event on the future of the Canada-U.S. relationship under the next administration finds 70 percent of Republicans support an across-the-board tariff of 10 to 20 percent on all imported goods. While that figure is 35 percent among Democrats, it’s 50 percent across parties. Ipsos President of Polling and Societal Trends CLIFFORD YOUNG said depending on which administration comes in, the policy contrast couldn’t be starker. “Americans are less free trade than we’d like to think so, and it's a highly partisan issue today,” Young told Playbook. “It can be done if [Trump] wants to do it,” he said. “Without a doubt, there's support with the base.” The poll also finds that even despite the hand wringing over Canada’s failure to meet its NATO defense spending commitment and its problem-plagued military — the U.S. still looks to Canada as a country it would want on its side during an emergency (38 percent), after the U.K. (48 percent). — Methodology: Online panel: 1,004 adults, fielded Oct. 17-18. From key trading partner to strong ally, Canada consistently comes in second across a range of countries, including Germany, Japan, China, Ukraine, Mexico and Russia. Taking those two things together means Canada’s not in a bad position. “I was surprised that Canada was so strong, but it just suggests that Canada has a lot of soft power with the U.S.,” he said. “That is actually an asset that can be used by Canada, if not to get its way, to help at least bend reality a little bit — no matter how much that you know reality might be problematic. Could Canada's soft power be used to exempt Canada from any sort of tariff that's put up?” — Worth noting: Only 20 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Russia — high historically, but not substantial within the party. STRETCH GOALS — STEVE NARDI is hoping to hit 5,000 homes door knocking in Windsor, Ontario, by Nov. 5. — First this cycle: The vice chair of Democrats Abroad is a key proponent of a push among partisans to turn out as many voters in the Ontario border town as possible who can vote in swing states Michigan or Ohio. But they’re not blasting voters with messaging about KAMALA HARRIS. They’re trying to send them to votefromabroad.org , a how-to-vote website that connects American voters with their last state of residence. The idea is to find additional voters — Americans who live in Canada who don’t realize they can still vote, or know how. — ICYMI: POLITICO published a story on GOTV efforts north of the border. The canvassers are planning to keep working there until Halloween (imagine the confused Canadians expecting trick-or-treaters). On the final weekend, they’ll invite volunteers out to hop across the border to Michigan to knock doors there. — Context: Windsor is a border town and home to many Americans, including lots of auto and health care sector workers who commute. — Early stats: Nardi said in their first stretch of hitting up homes, Americans made up about 10 percent of the doors they knocked. They picked the neighborhoods that were most walkable. But — they ran into a lot of Canadians married to Americans. — Aren’t you on the wrong side of the river…? The stats aren’t super useful at this point, since it’s a sort of pilot project. This is the first time they've coordinated door knocking in Canada. But they’ve only encountered a handful of Trump voters who told them to stick it, and mostly positive reception otherwise. Some are convinced these efforts will add up to give DONALD TRUMP a good scare, if the margins are as narrow as last time. |