Still ‘it’s the economy, stupid’ in the US midterm elections

• Ryan Ermine

  Correspondent from the United States

Democrats sound the alarm in the final sprint for the election of a new Congress in the United States on November 8. At the top of the list of voter concerns is skyrocketing inflation. As in other parts of the world, life has rapidly become more expensive for many Americans. Voters primarily blame President Biden’s economic policies.

It must have been nail-biting at the Democratic campaign offices, who entered the fall with confidence. In the summer months, they achieved political success after another: billions in investments in the American chip industry, tougher gun laws, and a historic package of climate and environmental measures.

And that while Republicans made headlines mainly due to strict abortion laws and candidates fervently proclaiming the myth of the presidential election stolen two years ago. They also threaten not to resign themselves to the next election results.

Could the unofficial campaign law it’s the economy, stupidare replaced by it’s democracy, stupid? For the moment, the voter appears to be voting with their wallet.

Yet: mid-term elections are also about democracy, you can see in this explanatory video by correspondent Lucas Waagmeester:

Inflation is strongly felt in the Atlanta State Farmers Market. The name suggests a small farmer’s market with freshly made jams and beneficial herbal teas, but the gigantic grounds of nearly 90 football fields are one of the most important distribution points for fruit and vegetables in all of America.

At booth 26, the trader Juan gets off his forklift and inspects the new pallets of bananas and peppers that have just arrived. He’s been in this job for 20 years and business hasn’t been that bad in ages, he says. “He’s very quiet and that’s because of all those price increases. We had to raise the price of broccoli tenfold in a short time. That’s why people stay away.”

Many entrepreneurs like Juan raise their prices due to rising costs and make less profit or loss. American consumers are spending more on food, gas and housing and, as in previous crises, are once again sinking into credit card debt to pay their bills.

According to economists, Georgia’s largest city, Atlanta, has one of the highest inflation rates in the country at 11.7 percent. And there are more cities in the south and southwest of the United States than double digit-touch inflation. Prices are rising much faster here than in expensive cities like Los Angeles or New York.

These economic concerns have provided Republicans with an effective offensive weapon in the electoral battle. In Georgia alone, they spent more than $ 7 million on election commercials claiming that Democratic Senator Warnock fueled inflation by carelessly spending government money. And even nationwide, Republicans, with $ 150 million in advertising, tell the same story in many races: it’s the Democrats’ fault that everything is getting more expensive.

According to Salleigh Grubbs, president of a local branch of the Republican Party in Georgia, President Biden’s administration has made a mess. “All the government support prevented people from returning to work after the pandemic. They became addicted to support instead of taking care of themselves as Americans usually do.”

Grubbs is the president of a paint booth company, but his schedule these days is mostly filled with campaign events. He has no choice, he says. The stakes are too great: “The president is not in the ballot, but his economic policy is there. The budget is in the House of Representatives, if we take it back we will stop the extreme government spending”.

In polls, the voter appears to be sensitive to Republican arguments. The party outperforms the Democrats in terms of reducing inflation and debt, and in terms of jobs and taxes.

The economy is therefore an Achilles heel for Democrats, who find it difficult to formulate an answer. They point to the war in Ukraine, global supply problems and companies chasing profit, but the message is sparse and without a megaphone. Congressional candidates prefer not to talk about aid packages and corona checks, for fear of being seen as wasteful. The policies with which they hoped to be politically rewarded have now become a minefield.

At the fruit stand, Juan turns up the music in Spanish. The customers finally arrive, who stop right in front of the stall to immediately throw the boxes of tomatoes and corn into the trunk. Before he has to go back to work, he wants to say one thing about his voting behavior of him: “This time it will be a different party.”