Here is what Democrats should not talk about leading up to the November elections:
- January 6 or holding Trump accountable
- The pandemic
- Ukraine
- Voting rights
- Police brutality
- Trans rights
- Anything other than inflation
Here’s what Democrats should be talking about 100% of the time:
- How we are going to bring inflation under control.
The winners and losers in this election will be determined by inflation, nothing else matters.
There will be a new phenomenon this election. There are millions of Americans who have never voted and do not read the news. They may be aware that something interesting happened on January 6, but they haven’t followed it since then. These are the people who when polled each year, can’t name a single branch of the federal government.
Even though these people don’t vote or read the news, they know their lives have changed over the last year. For the first time for many of them, they’re noticing that the amount they earn each month is no longer able to cover the amount they would normally spend each month. They are either using credit to fill the gap, cutting back on buying what they need, or both.
Now they are paying attention. Now they are registering to vote. They are fearful of what the future holds, they want to know who to blame, and they want to know who will fix the problem. On the slope toward November, the trend is worsening. Percentage of people who say inflation is the single biggest problem facing the nation:
- January 2022 — 8%
- February 2022 — 10%
- March 2022 — 17%
Two-thirds of Americans say inflation is creating difficulties or hardships in their lives.
This election is not about Trumpers or progressives. We know how those folks will vote. This election is about independents and new voters who are focused on inflation as their only issue.
The kind of people who read Daily Kos, myself included, can forget that we’re interacting in a bubble with people who care about politics and spend time keeping up to date with current events. We won’t decide the next election. Millions of people who don’t follow the news will, and they don’t want to hear about anything other than how we are going to bring the prices they pay under control.