During the 2024 campaign Donald Trump bashed Joe Biden for the high prices of everyday goods as a stand-in for the incumbent’s broader failures to make the economy great again. Or something.
He also promised that if elected he would very rapidly lower prices, tackle inflation and generally make the country’s economic outlook much, much brighter.
Well, he hasn’t. And people are starting to notice.
A new CBS News poll on the state of the economy has loads of bad news for Trump. Let’s go through a few of the key findings, shall we?
First, more than 6 in 10 Americans say prices for things they buy regularly have been going UP in the last few weeks:
Then there’s this: A HUGE majority feel as though their incomes aren’t keeping up with inflation:
And, finally, the number of people saying that the U.S. economy is bad is actually UP since this time a year ago:
Now, this is one poll. And I always warn you not to put too much stock in a single poll — especially if it tells you what you want to hear.
But, there are other measures kicking around out there that confirm the economic pessimism in the CBS poll.
My favorite — because I think it has been a super reliable gauge of how people feel about the economy over time — is the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers.
In its most recent release — earlier this month — the Michigan survey found consumer confidence dipping by 8 points between January and February.
As Joanne Hsu, the director of the Michigan survey, noted: “Consumers’ expectations for the path of inflation worsened considerably this month; they are clearly bracing for a resurgence in inflation.”
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None of this will solve Democrats’ broader brand problems. But, this issue is an absolute political winner for the party in the near term. Trump promised to fix this — and fix it quickly. He hasn’t — and people don’t think he will.
Democrats should be talking about prices, inflation and the economy every single day. All day.
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