By Jeffrey A. Rendall
Democrats cry about affordability, yet whenever they’re in power, prices go up, up, up
If you’re like me and you live in a state or near a congressional district that’s competitive in this year’s federal midterm elections, you’ve probably just endured another weekend’s full of Democrat political ads savaging President Donald Trump and claiming “affordability” is a major predicament in this year’s ballot choices.
Democrats are notoriously vague in defining their issues, and even worse about outlining what they intend to do to make things more “affordable” if they win back power starting next January.
Democrats are equally silent on what should transpire when their policies and solutions are unleashed on the country. Prices don’t level off or go down. They just elevate. If you don’t believe it, the minds at one of the nation’s preeminent newspapers offered the facts recently.
In an opinion piece titled, “The ‘Affordability’ Democrats? You Have to Be Kidding
(Subhead: From healthcare to housing to energy, their policies have made life more expensive.)”, The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal wrote:
“[W]hat are Democrats now proposing to improve affordability? More of the same policies—more spending on welfare and ‘affordable’ housing, more green-energy subsidies, more healthcare regulation and higher minimum wages nationwide.
“Democrats claimed the Affordable Care Act would reduce healthcare costs. But that law’s command-and-control regulations drove industry consolidation and pushed up prices instead. Premiums for employer plans have roughly doubled since 2010, rising at about twice the rate of inflation. As for tariffs, Joe Biden vowed in the 2020 campaign to repeal Mr. Trump’s first term border taxes but never did. You can’t believe Democrats will do so now, especially given that labor unions support many of the tariffs. Democrats also want to raise taxes on business, which would flow to consumers in higher prices.
“Americans may choose to vote for Democrats to send a message to President Trump, but expecting daily life to become more affordable under their policies is indulging hope over expensive experience.”
This is 100 percent true, yet it also seems evident that Americans aren’t necessarily choosing to vote for the justifiably despised Democrats as they’re simply rejecting the opportunity to give Republicans more time to hone their policies and agenda.
As I’ve argued until I’m (pardon the pun) blue in the face, it’s a party messaging deficit that’s largely to blame. Americans don’t buy-in to the Republicans’ spiel on what makes what function.
Whom do you believe? Democrats, Box A, Republicans, Box B, or Box C — none of the above?
Republicans appear set on a strategy of pointing most of their rhetorical guns at Democrats and how awful they are as opposed to touting straight economic numbers. And rightly so. Feeding Americans a series of facts and economic figures goes over their heads like so many fly balls lost in the major league playoffs’ stadium lights, while defining Democrats as nincompoops and noxious scofflaws and liars is a tried-and-true proven strategy.
How do we know? Because Democrats have repeatedly used smear-first tactics since Donald Trump has been a candidate or was in office, and they were successful enough to gain roughly half the House and Senate seats while not advancing a specific agenda, whatsoever.
Democrats have played on basic human nature, and it’s paid off for them, even if more than half of Americans have come to see them as soulless opportunists in the process.
The Democrats’ “Evil Party” standing has been etched in Washington, DC marble and they aren’t the least bit bothered by the reputation.
By the same token, the Republicans’ “Stupid Party” label has also been proven precise. Time and again, Republicans squandered chances to politically benefit from the many positive accomplishments of the Trump administration by hopelessly failing to relate to voters at the lowest common denominator level and then acknowledge that conditions on certain matters don’t look so good.
Examples? President Trump continues to brag that we have “The greatest [this or that] ever” while American consumers are punched in the face with high prices on staple goods. People remember how much their face hurts, not who threw the punch in the first place.
A little empathy would go a long way, rather than being talked down to for failing to recognize how great the elites say things are across the economy.
Can’t you hear it? Trump administration official: “162,000 jobs were created last month and if gas prices are taken out of the calculus, inflation is really within the FED’s target range of two percent.”
Say what? The average person thinks, “I just paid four bucks for a two-liter bottle of soda and they’re telling me that I should be happier than I was during senile Joe Biden’s presidency?”
Republicans aren’t out of touch with their policies, but they are way behind in their messaging. President Trump’s decision to go all-in on a final push to grind out the maximum number of votes from core Trump supporters at the expense of working to court a slice of those in the mushy middle is akin to fishing in a part of the lake that isn’t known for sheltering fish.
Democrats are unequivocally out of touch with their policies, but they appear to understand human nature and basic motivations a lot better than Republicans do. They won in 2020 because liberals persuaded a lot of people that shutting down their lives was good for them – and that Donald Trump was a heartless, uncaring lout because he wouldn’t bow to the Health Authority brains and simply moderate his message.
And this is part of the reason why President Trump’s approval ratings and job performance polling is at or near their all-time lows. It’s not because street-smart Americans don’t see rays of sunshine penetrating the Democrats’ “affordability” cloud – it’s because Republicans can’t get themselves to empathize with average people on inflation, gas prices, and in certain regions, tariffs.
Don’t Republicans remember how Barack Obama won in 2008? It wasn’t because the would-be first black president offered better policy solutions, it was due to making people have faith that “Hope and Change” was on the way if they entrusted him to take power.
Realistically speaking, Republicans could center their message around a combination of Trump accomplishments – such as, ‘Where have the illegal border crossers gone?’ ‘Have you noticed that you can now venture out at night on the streets of Washington DC without fearing for your life?’ – with a simple acknowledgement that “we screwed up” in specific ways.
Democrats don’t do it, either – but they don’t have to. Americans already realize Democrats are a collection of Jew-hating, Jihadi-shielding, child body alteration permitting freaks who condone allowing muscular, biological males to compete against girls in sports. But as long as Democrats stick to their “affordability” message, that’s what people remember.
The same logic applies to tariffs, too. If the news is all about Trump’s tariff war with Canada and the renaming of Lake Ontario rather than the underlying reasons why Canada has cheated us in regards to Chinese steel imports, it’s human nature to home in on the naming tiff rather than the poor, innocent, funny-accent talking Canadians being at fault.
President Trump is fond of bragging that foreign leaders now call America “the hottest country in the world” — but does this boasting persuade voters to ignore their own realities?
It’s about time Republicans stopped assuming Americans harbor a “glass half empty” attitude and simply deem it okay to concede a point or two to make themselves more relevant and relatable to voters. Republicans heavily rely on the “common sense” voter to prevail, and this type of person dwells in the real world, not the planet that revolves around political spin and exaggerated expectations.
President Trump has been a great president, one that has largely stuck to his promises and produced results. Democrats can’t ever mention the good things Trump’s done, so they work on the dark side of human nature to gain an advantage. We need to beat them. But it won’t be easy if the present remains unaltered by the future.
One segment of the American population will probably always think things are too expensive. That’s part of living in the United States where just about everything is available in abundance. Some reason that government has a role in making things “affordable”. As long as this belief persists, you will have the “affordability” issue. Don’t let Democrats get away with it.
Jeff Rendall is editor and publisher of GolfintheUSA.com and has written about golf and politics for over a quarter of a century. A non-practicing attorney from California, he moved to the east coast three decades ago to pursue and combine his interests in all things American history and culture. Jeff has worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and in various capacities in grassroots organizing and conservative organizations and publications, including a nearly two-decade stint at ConservativeHQ.com. Column republishing or other inquiries: Rendall@msn.com .