FiveThirtyEight’s top politics stories this week

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular In Politics] Thursday, February 8, 2018 [1. Could A Stock Market Downturn Tank Trump’s Approval Rating?]( The stock market fell on Monday. A lot. After a roller-coaster day, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 1,175 points, making for the largest single-day point decline in its history. [Read more]( [2. Who Should Be More Freaked Out About The Economy — Trump Or The Democrats?]( Welcome to FiveThirtyEight’s weekly politics chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited. [Read more]( [3. The 2018 Gubernatorial Map Favors Democrats]( Strike up a conversation about the 2018 election at your typical politics-themed cocktail party, and you’ll find the discussion decidedly Washington-centric. “Can Democrats win the House?” everyone asks breathlessly. “Will Republicans lose the Senate?” Those are both important questions. But one equally consequential electoral arena has mostly flown under the radar: governors races. [Read more]( [4. Americans Haven’t Changed Their Mind Much On Abortion, But They Have On Other ‘Cultural’ Issues]( Over the past two decades, public opinion in the U.S. has shifted dramatically on many of what we call “cultural” issues. It’s a soft-sell term, an odd way of undercutting the power that issues like drugs, marriage and abortion have to drive the politics of so many Americans. [Read more]( [5. The Shutdown Lesson People Seem To Have Trouble Learning]( If another continuing resolution to fund the government is passed Thursday without an immigration deal, Democrats will learn a hard lesson from history: If you’re in Congress and planning to shut down the government to score political or policy points, you might want to think again. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Forecasts How popular is Donald Trump? [How popular is Donald Trump?]( [See all polls]( Who is winning the race for congress? [Who is winning the race for congress?]( [See all polls]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: Has Trump Remade The GOP?]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ESPN]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 147 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023.