In September 1989, 1989, as the Cold War thought, Boris Yeltsin paid a visit to Houston.

But it wasn't the gizmos at NASA's mission control that impressed him most.

The Houston Chronicle photographed the Russian President and his entourage at a stop they made in the nearby

suburb of Clear Lake.

Yeltsin is in the frozen food aisle of Randall's supermarket looming over a chest of popsicles.

He's grinning and displaying his arms in wonder at the treasures laid out before him.

Even the Pollit Bureau doesn't have this choice, he told the paper.

Yeltsin later wrote that the array of treats on display at Randalls shattered his view of communism.

The Russian leader was smart to spot the link between suburban bounty

and the strength of American democracy.

The next election, the economist reported at the time, would be the first in US history when the majority of voters were suburbanites.

The road to the White House has been winding past the lawns and malls of suburbia ever since. With 45 days to go, this is

checks and balance. I'm John Prado, the Economist's US editor, and this is a podcast about the 2020 elections.

Each week we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth. Today, who will win the suburban

vote? Suburbia will pick the president once more this election.

Donald Trump, hopes fear of unrest and rising crime, will appeal to the suburban housewives he tweets about.

It's a strategy borrowed from Richard Nixon. to the suburban housewives he tweets about.

It's a strategy borrowed from Richard Nixon

who first harnessed the political power of suburban voters

to win the White House.

But two years ago, it was the Democrats who took control of Congress thanks to suburban voters.

How did the suburbs become so decisive?

...