The staggering number is a reminder that even in the midst of an international crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Democrats’ fortunes in November’s midterm elections will depend on domestic issues.
For this inflation, Republicans blamed the spending measures of Biden’s early administration, including the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package passed a year ago, for overheating the economy.
With the deepening of the war in Ukraine, the price of gasoline has risen sharply, and the prices of food, cars, etc. are all rising rapidly. The soaring cost of living is bound to spark public resentment and give Republicans a big advantage in the midterm elections.
“The election comes down to the dinner table,” said Matt Gorman, a Republican strategist and former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
“We’re seeing this in Virginia and we’re going to see that in the midterms,” Gorman said of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s victory over Democrat Terry McAuliffe in November. . Democrats could use every trick in the book to try to blame Putin or corporations for inflation. But this time, the issue falls entirely on Joe Biden.”
The White House’s message on gas prices and inflation has also changed in recent days, with Biden accusing inflation of “Putin’s price hike.”
There is no doubt that the war in Ukraine is having an inflationary impact, and coupled with the fact that the U.S. is experiencing the highest inflation rate since 1982, Democrats have to prepare for the outcome of the midterm elections.
Biden is trying to convince voters to see the bright side of the U.S. economy. In his statement on inflation figures on Thursday, he said: “New jobless claims remain low as record levels of job creation are being created. The rate of people receiving unemployment insurance benefits is the lowest since 1970. And, the private sector Job growth is strong, thanks to the steps we took in the U.S. rescue package a year ago.”
The worry for Biden and Democrats, however, is that inflation in general, and soaring gasoline prices in particular, may outweigh all the positives in the economy.
In a new Economist YouGov poll this week, 42% of Americans think the economy is bad, compared to just 5% who think it’s good and 21% who think it’s good.
The same poll also found that 85% of Americans describe inflation as a very or somewhat serious problem facing the country.
Also worrying for Biden is that 69% expect inflation to be unchanged or even higher six months from now. That sentiment pushes workers to push wages higher, while companies often pass inflation on to consumers by raising product prices, forcing inflation to continue rising.
Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf said: “For the average American, the feeling is: What did I do to deserve it, and why is this happening to me?”
Biden said in a statement Tuesday that he was “working to lower the daily price of squeezing[blood and sweat]on Americans.” But the reality is that his efforts are limited because the midterm elections are less than eight months away, making it a huge conundrum for him and the Democrats on how to control the impact of inflation.
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