Dem
47
GOP
53
Politico commissioned Public First to conduct a poll on affordability. What do people actually mean when they say that? Where does it hurt, actually? The results paint a grim picture of what's going on with Americans. Here are a few of the concrete results.
In addition to these specific results, the top five general areas where the pain is most intense are groceries (45%), housing (38%), health care (34%), utility bills (31%) and debt repayment (17%).
Some other things stood out. A small minority of 2024 Trump voters (22%) say Trump's tariffs are helping the economy now and will continue to help it in the future. A larger chunk (36%) say they are hurting now but will help eventually. The others, not so much. And 55% blame Trump for high food prices, despite his attempts to blame Biden and Obama. Maybe he should try Martin van Buren next.
College is a big deal. Overall, 62% of Americans say going to college costs too much and the benefits are too small to justify the costs. They are not paying attention. The income gap between college and noncollege workers keeps growing and shows no sign of diminishing. For example, the Census Bureau recently found that the median household income in families headed by a college graduate is more than double that of families with high school diplomas but no college. Joe Biden tried to deal with this by forgiving student debt acquired while attending college, but the Supreme Court killed his plans. Biden also pitched efforts to boost technical education programs. Trump has done nothing except blackmail universities for trying to enroll and hire more minority students and employees.
Housing and health care are also issues that keep people awake at night. This is especially true of young people and Latinos. There is a huge divide between MAGA and non-MAGA Americans on health care. An astounding 84% of MAGA voters trust the Republicans to bring down health care costs. Among non-MAGA Republicans it is 49%, but a quarter of the latter actually think the Democrats will do better.
Trump doesn't get it. In fact, he hit the road Tuesday to tell people in Pennsylvania how great the economy is and how low prices are now. He kept calling affordability a hoax. He blamed the Democrats and said he had brought prices down. He has repeatedly said the economy is A+++++. That is not likely to play well with voters who have gone to a store recently. In reality, many products are up 2-3% this year, with steak, coffee, and cereal significantly more expensive.
Trump also told people to teach their children to live with less, especially products made abroad. He said: "You can give up pencils. They only need one or two. They don't need that many, but you always need steel. You don't need 37 dolls for your daughter, two or three is nice." For people whose daughters don't have 37 dolls and who are struggling with Christmas shopping, this message will surely be comforting.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) does get it. He said: "The President's statement does not reflect the reality on the ground here in a community where many Pennsylvanians voted for him in the last election. The record is clear: His policies have hurt the very communities that propelled him to the White House. Trump's tariffs and economic policies have raised prices at the grocery store, shuttered markets for our farmers, hurt our manufacturers, and dramatically increased the cost of living for Pennsylvanians." Shapiro is very likely to run for president in 2028 and is trying to establish himself in the center of the affordability lane. The reality is that there is not a lot presidents can do to lower prices short-term. What they can do short-term, however, is increase wages—for example, by getting Congress to raise the minimum wage.
Maybe Trump is right and he can bamboozle his supporters into thinking their grocery bill must be a typo, or if not, that it is Obama's fault, but recent elections have shown this strategy does not work with Democrats, independents, or normie Republicans. In many places, these groups together form a large majority of the voters. Unless things get better relatively soon, the midterms could be rather unpleasant for the Republicans. (V)