President Joe Biden goes into next year’s election with a vexing challenge: Just as the U.S. economy is getting stronger, people are still feeling horrible about it.
Pollsters and economists say there has never been as wide a gap between the underlying health of the economy and public perception. The divergence could be a decisive factor in whether the Democrat secures a second term next year. Republicans are seizing on the dissatisfaction to skewer Biden, while the White House is finding less success as it tries to highlight economic progress.
“Things are getting better and people think things are going to get worse — and that’s the most dangerous piece of this," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, who has worked with Biden. Lake said voters no longer want to just see inflation rates fall — rather, they want an outright decline in prices, something that last happened on a large scale during the Great Depression.
“Honestly, I’m kind of mystified by it,” she said.
Companies make the same mistake all the time: They optimize for the wrong metrics and then wonder why things break.
I don’t know how anyone can call this a strong economy when 20,000 people filed for bankruptcy for medical expenses last year, and twelve million kids face food insecurity.
I agree completely. 1/5 children are food insecure in my area. 20%. That’s insane. We are a wealthy country and I’m in a major metropolitan area and yet, 20% of kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from.