(Democrat) Americans on Trade

According to CBS exit polls:

Ohio Democratic voters hold mostly negative views on U.S. trade with other countries: Eight in ten say trade takes jobs away from their state. In Texas, 58 percent say trade takes jobs away, while a quarter say U.S. trade with other countries creates jobs.

Since Texas presumably benefits greatly from the two-way commerce with Mexico, it's astonishing that trade is so unpopular there.

Last year I remarked:

Will the world's financial traffic reroute around America the way the Internet routes around censorship? My guess is that we're not at that point yet, but if it happens it will happen faster than people expect.

Perhaps the global economy too, at some point? Not that we are imminently becoming a backwater--but if it happens, it could happen faster than people expect: for example, our global competitors might sign trade agreements with partners we spurn out of protectionism.

We are in the fifteenth year after the Gore-Perot NAFTA debate. The quality of American leadership and, I am inclined to believe, the sagacity of the electorate have declined.

Afterthought. The sagacity of the electorate may not be to blame. Surveys show that people think that the country is moving in the wrong direction. IMO that's correct and the biggest single--not the only--reason is the corrupt incompetent hypocritical pharisaism of the Republican party. Since the malfeasance is deliberately disguised and hidden, one can't expect John and Joan Public to formulate policy prescriptions. It's understandable that they look to themselves when the leadership has repeatedly demonstrated it cannot be trusted.