A Virus Spreads, Stocks Fall, and Democrats See an Opening to Hit Trump

Some pockets of the Democratic electorate, particularly black voters, rate the economy as their top concern, according to a new nationwide poll conducted for The New York Times by the online research firm SurveyMonkey. But Democratic voters overall rate health care and the environment as more important issues. They are about half as likely as independent voters to call the economy a top issue.

Over the course of the campaign, Democratic candidates have generally sought to emphasize that the strong economy was not being felt by ordinary Americans, who they insisted were struggling to make ends meet. Several candidates blame Mr. Trump’s trade war with China for hurting American workers. Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren have called for broad transformations of the economy, with far steeper taxes on wealthy people and corporations. The leading Democratic candidates are all eager to raise taxes on the rich, though they disagree about how far to go with increases.

Mr. Bloomberg and Ms. Warren levied more direct attacks this weekend, while championing their own qualifications to steer the country through economic tumult. Mr. Bloomberg said he had dealt with public health and economic crises as a mayor, as a philanthropist and as the leader of his business, Bloomberg L.P., “so I understand the economic damage that bad policies can cause.”

Ms. Warren said on Saturday night that the crisis demanded a more skilled leader than Mr. Trump or several of her Democratic rivals, taking shots at Mr. Sanders, Mr. Biden and Mr. Bloomberg. The moment required “someone whose core values can be trusted, who has a plan for how to govern and who can actually get it done,” she said.

Mr. Trump, in turn, has blamed his Democratic rivals for unnerving investors. “I think they’re not very happy with the Democrat candidates, when they see them,” he told reporters on Friday. “I think that has an impact.”

Jim Tankersley reported from Washington, and Thomas Kaplan from Charlotte, N.C.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/01/business/economy/trump-democrats-coronavirus-economy.html