CG/LA Infrastructure has ranked both Republican and Democratic Presidential candidates in terms of their ability and likelihood to catalyze new infrastructure investment in the U.S. marketplace. In this ranking, completed prior to the upcoming second Republican presidential debate, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and Republican candidate John Kasich tied for the top position.
These monthly rankings are a part of CG/LA’s Blueprint 2025 initiative, an 18-month, 100-nameplate campaign by U.S. CEOs to craft an infrastructure plan for the next presidential administration. Blueprint 2025 aims to raise infrastructure to a priority level on par with national security while generating long-term bipartisan support through at least the next three election cycles.
“This is not a narrow issue,” according to Norman F. Anderson, president and CEO of CG/LA Infrastructure. “Infrastructure, like education, is a foundational issue, underlying our ability to be productive, to be prosperous, and to creatively imagine - and create - our country’s future.”
For each candidate, key issues measured include:
- Legacy Performance – have they successfully built infrastructure in the past?;
- Plan of Action - do they have an achievable infrastructure plan?;
- Team Performance - can they catalyze great performance across a disparate executive team that would have to manage a successful infrastructure build?
“Every successful presidential candidate for the last two generations has promised to build our infrastructure, helping us to regain our global competitiveness - none has been able to do it,” said Anderson. “Our monthly rating system provides a structure for the evaluation of candidates, Republicans and Democrats, rating their ability to get this done.”
Bernie Sanders and John Kasich tied for the top position scoring 18 points, with Donald Trump following closely behind with 17 points. The next closest candidate was Hillary Clinton, receiving 11 points. Sanders earned high marks for being the most vocal candidate on the issue, having proposed a major infrastructure investment initiative in the Senate and emphasizing the importance of infrastructure on the campaign trail. Kasich led in legacy performance, having applied his public and private sector experience to pass a strong transportation budget in Ohio. Trump received recognition for his past experience as a builder and focus on infrastructure on the campaign trail.
