Voters elected Donald Trump to bring prices down, not to lecture Americans about why groceries, gas, and housing are actually affordable.
The conservative political class is committing one of the most disastrous acts of political malpractice in recent memory. When Biden’s press secretary chided citizens for complaining about the cost of staples like milk and eggs, it inflicted serious damage on the Democratic Party. Many voters supported Trump because they trusted him to address inflation and the affordability crisis. Now conservative pundits and influencers are repeating the same mistake—telling consumers that everything is fine while dismissing economic reality.
Democrats lost because they cut themselves off from reality. Republicans have no reason to copy this strategy. Elections are not won by lecturing voters that their problems are imaginary. This is basic political wisdom. Professional actors adopting this approach months before midterms is both bizarre and dangerous.
Affordability is not a Democratic talking point or a socialist catchphrase—it is real, and it will dominate every foreseeable election. Republicans understood this when Biden occupied the White House. The problem did not disappear when Trump returned.
People feel their economy is failing them. They see the American dream drifting farther out of reach. Conservative pundits may produce charts, cite statistics, or claim certain indicators look healthy—but none of that saves the GOP from consequences. Voters do not experience the economy as an abstraction; they feel it at the checkout counter, the gas pump, and when another year of saving still leaves a starter home beyond reach. Their judgment is concrete and rational.
While some discretionary goods like flat-screen televisions have become cheaper, essentials—food, healthcare, child care, education, insurance, housing, electricity, and gasoline—remain punishingly expensive. Gross domestic product and surging stock markets may comfort those already winning in the economy but are poor measures of daily struggles for families fighting to stay afloat.
Many underlying problems are nearly untouchable in a democratic system. The hard truth is that buying votes is often the optimal electoral strategy. No candidate wins by promising voters their benefits will shrink, home values will fall, and taxes will rise.
Trump understands this better than anyone. He promised not to touch major entitlements, pledged to protect home values, and proposed eliminating taxes on tips. America may be on a slow collision course with fiscal disaster, but no politician wants to lose an election by volunteering to hold the bomb when it explodes.
The war with Iran has taken on a disturbingly familiar shape. Its champions mocked anyone warning the conflict might last weeks. Now the country approaches midterms with no end in sight—a pattern predictable since wars begin when you will but do not end when you please.
Pundits who demanded war now tell voters they are stupid or selfish for noticing economic consequences. They will inevitably blame any disastrous midterm result on opponents of the conflict, yet the political reality is clear. The central issue is not sophisticated views on Iran—many care little about strategic details. They care that everything costs more. Telling them their concerns lack economic literacy has roughly the same electoral appeal as shooting a puppy on live television.
The United States has already spent tens of billions on the Iran war and depleted munitions stockpiles requiring years and billions more to rebuild. The Republican House approved another $8 billion in loans for Ukraine despite Trump’s promise to end that conflict immediately.
The political system limits what Republicans can do about inflation, but ending vast expenditures on wars that don’t improve voters’ lives remains the most obvious starting point.
The road ahead is difficult, but many wounds are self-inflicted. The first step toward recovery is to stop repeating the behavior that caused them.
End funding for the war in Ukraine. Bring American forces home from the Persian Gulf. Stop telling voters concern over rising prices is foolish, greedy, or manufactured by Democrats.
The GOP still has one advantage: Democrats remain deeply unpopular. Redistricting has improved Republican electoral maps, and the left continues to repel many ordinary voters. There may still be time to limit damage or even regain momentum.
But first, war hawks must admit they were wrong—again—and change course.
