We are less than 5 months away from the presidential election, and it is surprising that the economy is not getting more attention. If you are Joe Biden and his handlers, you can see why you wouldn’t want to put a lot of focus on the economy. If you are the establishment media cheering for Biden or his replacement, you can understand why this topic doesn’t come up much.
It is far less understandable why Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy Jr. wouldn’t be making this the number one issue of their campaign. To be sure, some of the problems we are facing today come from Trump’s time in office, but Joe Biden and his cheerleaders aren’t going to explain that one of the reasons we have high price inflation today is because of the Fed’s massive increase in the money supply in 2020, coupled with massive deficit spending.
A majority of voters already have their mind made up for November 2020. For most, it will either be a vote for Trump or a vote against Trump. The votes against Trump will be for Biden or his replacement.
Still, this election will ultimately be decided (assuming it is somewhat fair) by swing voters. Sometimes it is just a matter of whether a voter is compelled enough to show up on Election Day.
It is understandable why candidates would play to cultural issues. And issues such as immigration can be tied to domestic economic issues. Still, when all is said and done, most Americans are just trying to provide for their family and have a little left over for some entertainment.
There are some people who are still furious over the COVID hysteria and the vaccine mandates. These are distant thoughts for most people now, but not for the people who lost their jobs or who were injured from an injection that they were assured was safe and effective. On this, Kennedy is the only one close to appealing to some people. But it is still a minority of people, and most know that the criminals who put them through this will never be fully held accountable. So even these people need to look forward and hope for a more prosperous future.
Acknowledging Difficulty
Some people just want acknowledgement of hard times. Bill Clinton was not completely off when he would say things like, “I feel your pain.” He may not have been sincere, but some people at least felt acknowledged.
Trump and Kennedy will certainly say that the economy is bad under Biden. They will say that inflation is bad too, but they don’t dig much deeper than that. It is a political mistake on their part.
The price inflation just in insurance has been outrageous. Health insurance premiums were already bad from the Obama era and even before. They have gone up so much that we are relieved if our employer says that health premiums are only going up 5% next year. Unfortunately, it is 5% of what is already a lot.
Home insurance and car insurance have really skyrocketed in recent years. Some people have seen their premiums go up by 20 or 30 percent in a single year.
Imagine someone who makes just $50,000 per year. Between car insurance and home insurance, this person might have to pay an extra $1,500 per year compared to the year before. If they are fortunate enough to get a 3% raise at work, all of this will be eaten up just by insurance costs. That doesn’t account for the increased prices in food and other needs, let alone entertainment.
Living standards have declined in recent years. The government economists and statisticians can show us GDP numbers or whatever they want, but Americans know that their paychecks just aren’t going as far as they once did.
When Kennedy is campaigning or is making an appearance on any podcast or show, he should be hammering this point home every single time. He should be tying every issue (foreign policy, immigration, taxes, the environment) back to American living standards. He should continually say that the American middle class is suffering at the hands of government. If he wants any chance to win, this should be his message.
The same goes for Trump. Maybe Trump will easily win anyway because virtually everyone knows Biden is a complete fool at this point. Trump likes to talk about immigration. It is understandable. But there are many millions of voters out there who are even more concerned about how they are going to pay the electric bill and rent next month. If Trump wants to get these people, he should acknowledge them. He should let them know that he is sympathetic to their situation.
This was the advice I gave for the Rand Paul campaign in 2015 at the start of his brief presidential run. He did not take this path and completely flopped. Times are harder now than they were then.
The American people are tired of getting played. They know they are getting the short end of the stick, regardless of what the “experts” say or what the statistics say. There is no candidate acknowledging their pain. Trump is probably the closest thing, which is probably why he is leading in the polls.