Here is why 2020 will be the Manufacturing Election
This year, Americans will head to the polls to decide which party controls state capitals, the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and the White House. It’s something that happens only once every four years, and the outcome of the 2020 election will have a significant impact on the men and women who help manufacture the equipment that helps build, feed, and power the world.
Voters consistently rank the economy as a top issue when heading into the voting booth. It’s a trend that recent polling by national surveying group Morning Consult shows will continue this year. What’s also going to be important this year is how well 2020 candidates present their ideas on how to keep manufacturing strong in the U.S.
The vast majority of registered U.S. voters, 91 percent, say manufacturing is critical or important to keeping the economy strong. And more than three-quarters of U.S. voters believe presidential candidates should prioritize manufacturing as part of their 2020 platforms – and that number grows in manufacturing-heavy swing states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan.
Help 2020 candidates focus on what’s important
2020 candidates must take note. They can position themselves as champions of manufacturing by outlining how they would protect and grow the sector through pro-manufacturing policies like infrastructure investment, free and fair trade, workforce development, and supporting farmers and working families by passing policies to keep rural communities strong. That will resonate with the 91 percent of registered U.S. voters who value keeping manufacturing strong. For example, the recent poll shows seven in 10 voters are more likely to support candidates running for office if they support efforts to bolster the economy of rural America and prepare students for careers in manufacturing.
However, from a policy perspective, the last several years have resulted in mixed results for manufacturers. On one hand, the 2018 tax reform bill, the 2018 Farm Bill, and a modernized North American trade agreement provided by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) are all policy wins for equipment manufacturers and our industry’s 1.3 million men and women. On the other hand, the ongoing trade war with China and the use of protectionist tariffs, as well as the failure by Washington lawmakers to reach across the aisle to pass a comprehensive infrastructure package, has offset those wins.
That’s why we need to continue to elect candidates running for office who will best support pro-manufacturing policies.
You can make a difference
This provides you with the opportunity to make sure that the future of the industry, and of all of U.S. manufacturing, becomes a dominant theme throughout the campaign season.
This summer I Make America will hit the road with the AEM 2020 Manufacturing Express, a bus tour that will travel across the country from July to October to visit with the men and women of our industry – folks just like you. We will discuss the role that equipment manufacturing plays in each and every community, big or small, throughout the United States; we will highlight the policies that help equipment manufacturers grow and succeed across the country; and we will engage voters to help us make equipment manufacturing in America as strong as it can be.
It’s clear American voters want strong leadership on manufacturing. It’s up to you to help make sure 2020 candidates pay attention.
The easiest way to do that is by signing up to become an I Make America supporter or asking others to join along with you.
