The infla­tion vs. abor­tion, bor­ders vs. democ­ra­cy elec­tion

The 2024 elec­tion is a rematch between Pres­i­dent Joe Biden and for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump, but it will be a repeat in oth­er ways, too.
This year’s race is shap­ing up to be a con­test over a hand­ful of dom­i­nant issues, with infla­tion and the bor­der ben­e­fit­ing Repub­li­cans while Democ­rats see abor­tion and what they describe as pro­tect­ing democ­ra­cy as key.
Two of these defin­ing issues came into focus on Wednes­day as infla­tion came in hot­ter than expect­ed and Trump dou­bled down on his pledge not to sign leg­is­la­tion that could be con­strued as a “nation­al abor­tion ban.”
The infla­tion news came amid spec­u­la­tion about whether the Fed­er­al Reserve could low­er inter­est rates soon enough to help Biden in the gen­er­al elec­tion. Trump’s move fol­lowed Ari­zona becom­ing the sec­ond bat­tle­ground state where abor­tion will effec­tive­ly be on the bal­lot this Novem­ber, poten­tial …