Perspective: The political mistake that will cost Democrats in November – By Desmond Lachman and Chris Stirewalt (Deseret News) / April 25, 2022
Both Ronald Reagan and Joe Biden had to deal with inflation. Here’s what Reagan got right and Biden got wrong
James Carville, Bill Clinton’s political adviser, famously said that when it comes to elections, “It’s the economy, stupid.” In the run-up to November’s midterms, President Joe Biden must hope that Carville’s adage is not always true since his Democratic Party will go to the polls with the economy in shambles.
Whether or not Biden is fully to blame for the economy’s sorry state, his party will face the electorate with the country’s highest inflation rate in 40 years. It seems increasingly likely that we will have an economy on the cusp of a recession and a stock market on the back foot. This does not bode well for Democrats retaining control of either house of Congress. This is especially the case considering that polls show that voters consider inflation or the high cost of living to be the most important issue facing the country
Biden is not the first president to drag inflation woes into a midterm election, so there’s precedence for what likely lies ahead. Three other presidents have watched their parties take it in the chops in the midterms as Americans faced rapid price increases: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Here’s what the past can teach us about what lies ahead — and what Biden got wrong.
