There are numerous takes on how this happened. Many are from people on the left being incredulous (don’t the Trump voters realize tariffs will cause more inflation?) or disgusted (I can’t believe my country is so racist/misogynist); on Trump’s cabinet picks threatening to burn it all down (don’t they realize what will happen to Social Security/Medicaid/The ACA/Dept of Ed?)
I can’t emphasize this point enough, so will capitalize and bold it.
THIS COUNTRY IS NOT ECONOMICALLY WORKING FOR THE BOTTOM 50%, SO THEY ARE READY TO BURN IT ALL DOWN
The last 10 years have seen an obscene increase in the price of homes and rents, obviously the covid-era inflation, a labyrinth of health care to navigate for your kids, yourself, your aging parents, all of which is anxiety-inducing and significantly decreases quality of life.
A lot of us Dems have jobs that allow us to work from home, be on hold with the insurance provider, maybe we have a decent amount of sick and vacation leave. If you are not a college-educated, white-collar worker with a decent job, this economy does not work for you at all.
Democratic promises that they will get you a tax break, marginally improve the ACA, etc. are seen as false because people actually don’t need that kind of help. People need real help: health care, child care, housing. They don’t need a tax break or a hoop to jump through or if they live in a red state a state-run version of a federal program that jacks up its purpose. They need real concrete help right now.
So when Democrats talk about how good on paper the economy it is, that is not how people are feeling it. Another bolded statement:
YES, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE UNRAVELING OF THE ACA, LACK OF EXPANDED MEDICAID, LACK OF HOUSING, IS MOSTLY BECAUSE THE REPUBLICANS SCREWED IT ALL UP AND A LOT OF THIS IS THEIR FAULT
None of that matters. That is all inside baseball. People need help now.
But wait… what could Biden have done?
A list:
1) Use his justice department to sue under anti-trust the real estate / private equity groups colluding to buy up property and raise prices (and collude to not build low-cost housing)
2) Go after price-gougers, not marginally but in the same way Trump is rounding up illegal immigrants, big/showy/raids/executives perp-walked
3) Aggressive federal action Exec Orders to provide access to health care, including going after the bad actors in Medicare Advantage
4) Real enforcement of federal standards for nursing home and community long-term care
5) Those governors who sent immigrants in buses and planes to other states? They should have been stopped.
6) Anti-trust break up the big social media and other media monopolies
This is an example. In short — working people do not see what Biden is doing to fight for them — or what Dems are doing. They only hear the Dems say the economy is fine. It is not fine. It is not working, no matter what the stats say, for the bottom 50%.
The first thing Dems should do is LISTEN to what the voters who stayed home or are in the Dems demographic, say about why they went with Trump or at least helped Trump get elected. Hint: this has nothing to do with Gaza, it has nothing to do with LGBTQ or other progressive ideas. This has to do with base economics — it is the economy, stupid, and it always has been.
