Voters really don’t like corporate monopolies. It’s a sentiment that unites the left and right. More than 65% of voters recently polled in the seven crucial presidential battleground states and Ohio support the government suing to break up monopolies and economically powerful companies. And in a clear signal for the campaigns of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, more than half said they’d be more likely to pick a presidential candidate who also backs tougher antitrust enforcement. Earlier this month, Democratic pollster Lake Research Partners interviewed 600 likely voters in those states about their views on antitrust issues. The results were surprising: 67% of voters said one of the biggest problems facing the country today is corporate power and a lack of government pushback. A solid majority — 58% — had a favorable opinion of government enforcement of the antitrust laws. The Biden administration’s Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have broadened their aggressive enforcement beyond Big Tech like Google and Apple to bring cases against other companies that dominate markets, including Visa, Ticketmaster and drug middlemen owned by CVS and UnitedHealth. Would that continue under the next president? Harris, the vice president, has stayed mum on how she’d approach antitrust. She’s likely trying to avoid stepping into the fight between wealthy Democratic donors who want her to ditch FTC Chair Lina Khan and progressives like Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez who’ve threatened an “out and out brawl” if Harris were to oust her. Khan Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg Former President Trump has also said little about how he may approach antitrust. In an Oct. 15 interview conducted by Bloomberg News he said he’d “do something” about Google but stopped short of endorsing a break up. However Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, is a fan of Khan — who has become the face of the Biden administration’s antitrust drive — for her approach to tech companies. (That’s in contrast to many other congressional Republicans.) The poll was commissioned by two non-profits that back greater enforcement, the American Antitrust Institute and the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws. — Leah Nylen |