You should always act like your candidate is ten points behind, but after today, Republicans are going to have to be really good actors.
As far as I'm concerned, it's not over until Trump is being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, but it's always been about the economy. The economy controls almost everything in the lives of the average American, and right now they're watching in horror as their economy free falls.
You can see just how bad it is by looking at the front page of RedState alone.
The world market is dropping like a rock. The housing market is slowing down significantly. The leader of the free world, who is still a man in the midst of being forgotten about thanks to an increasingly hot election, Joe Biden, is telling people he "cured" the economy, making it clear that there is no one at the wheel. We're in a heap of trouble economically.
I think one tweet from Tim Young summed this all up well.
"That is called Bidenomics... **cackling** ...and we are very proud of Bidenomics!"
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) August 5, 2024
Kamala Krash pic.twitter.com/Nl0knpPIyb
Even if you're not in the realm of politics, it's hard not to see it. If people don't yet, they will. Companies will have to cut costs to survive, and those costs involve employees who will lose their jobs. Stocks will crash, affecting everything from savings to college funds. The cost of living will rise. Borrowing will become far harder to do and will come with higher interest rates. Small businesses will struggle to stay open.
Bidenomics, ladies and gentlemen.
But while this free fall is horrible, at least it's timely. People are going to remember that they're in the midst of an election year and that the people behind Bidenomics *cackle cackle* are attempting to run for office again and the man they're running against was a guy who had the economy roaring when he was in charge.
They're going to remember 3.5 percent unemployment and huge growth in the stock market. They're going to remember rising wages and tax cuts. Likewise, they're going to remember how easy it was to find a job thanks to regulatory reductions and cheaper products thanks to low inflation.
Yeah, that all got busted in the end thanks to a pandemic, but Trump's economy was strong and bullish.
It's going to be very hard for Democrats to sell a Kamala Harris to the United States of America when the administration she was (allegedly) helping lead is behind the high bill an average American just got after they just got laid off from their job.
Case in point, this guy is voicing the thought millions of Americans are going to have.
Georgia voter slams the Biden/Harris economy:
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) August 3, 2024
"Before Trump got out of office I only had to put $10 in my truck…Then prices on beer go up? Hey, that's the workin' man's gatorade right there!" pic.twitter.com/MqKS30OpKJ
To drive the point home, a poll by the Wall Street Journal that was taken even before the crash hit showed that Trump had a 12-point lead on Harris in terms of economic confidence, with Trump at 52 percent approval to Harris's 40 percent. I quoted Morris Fiorina in the report about the poll, who put the effect of economic confidence for a candidate well:
"Retrospective voting means that voters hold incumbents accountable for their past performance, particularly regarding the economy. Economic conditions are a crucial determinant in whether incumbents are rewarded or punished at the polls," he said.
This is political science 101. As you watch the stock market tumble and our economy head toward recession, Donald Trump's popularity only rises, continuing the trend of Democrats being the one to put Trump in positions of popularity and power.
Again, we can't get lazy, but Monday likely blew a hole in the Harris campaign's ship that is sinking it quickly as I write this. I'm not entirely sure how the Democrats can recover from this one without a lot of clever lies and careful wording. Even then, they'd need a miracle.