Trump looks increasingly out of touch and his disapproval rating is at an all-time high – which partly explains Tuesday’s election results
Trump looks increasingly out of touch and his disapproval rating is at an all-time high – which partly explains Tuesday’s election results
Perhaps the most revealing post-mortem on Republicans’ election night meltdown came from the vice-president, JD Vance.
After a night that saw Democratic governors elected in New Jersey and Virginia after focusing on the rising cost of living, and a New York mayoral campaign victory built on housing access, Vance showed a particular kind of remorse.
“We need to focus on the home front,” he wrote on the X social media platform. “The president has done a lot that has already paid off in lower interest rates and lower inflation, but we inherited a disaster from Joe Biden and Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Vance’s plea might be seen as an ever-so-careful and delicate rebuke of his boss, Donald Trump, who has spent the past month gallivanting around the world – he claims to have ended eight wars – and pursuing his dream of a $300m White House ballroom.
It’s the economy, stupid, as the timeworn saying goes, and affordability in particular. The age of aspiration has given way to the age of anxiety. The price of incumbency is that restless voters always believe that the grass is greener on the other side.
A year ago Democrats were punished for “bad vibes” around the cost of living for the middle class, however much they protested that the economic data was positive. In that climate Trump represented change: at rally after rally, he promised to lower prices from day one. Many voters felt it was worth taking a gamble in case he was right.
Now the tables are turned. Trump occupies the White House but inflation remains hard to crack. The period from July to August saw the biggest month-to-month jump in grocery prices in three years.
