Is it the economy stupid?

The Wall Street Journal (excerpted below) today explains that Voldemort better fix the economy or the GOP is doomed? Sounds like they're channeling James Carville's line in 1992 "it's the economy stupid" (He was Clinton's campaign director against Bush). Except in 1992 the stock market, economy and GDP were all on the downslope.

Today, inflation is low (3%) and stocks/GDP are rising. Forgetting the Trump is FOS about lowering prices, the elevated cost of things is attributable to Biden's tenure (CPI up 20%, real estate prices 40%). Any president that claims they will lower prices is FOS (as is the Dark Lord). Plus he's had only 10 months in office..insufficient time to move that dial.

One bright spot, interest rates are coming down along with home prices in many areas. It's a start.

For more dets, check this out:

https://www.spritzlerreport.com/post/dems-taking-advantage-of-rise-in-prices-are-prices-in-fact-rising

Trump’s GOP Is Losing Independents

Republicans will be tempted to dismiss the 2025 election results. They shouldn’t.

The case against panic goes like this: GOP voters stay home when President Trump isn’t on the ballot. The Democrats’ money advantage was overwhelming. And Virginia, New Jersey, California and New York City are Democratic bastions, shaded navy to midnight blue on election maps.

All true. All irrelevant.

Republicans enter the midterm cycle shouldering two related burdens: economic dissatisfaction arising from high prices and a revolt among independents. To hold the House and avoid investigations and impeachment, Mr. Trump must come up with an affordability agenda and win back at least some of the independents fleeing his coalition. And he must do so quickly.

Excuses don’t help. Mr. Trump won’t be on the ballot again. The Republican Party must find some way to export his appeal to other candidates. If the Democratic fundraising machine performs this well now, imagine what it will look like in 2026 and 2028.

The off-year Democratic wave flooded Republican safe harbors. Democrats flipped at least 13 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates. They plan to use their governing trifecta—control of the governor’s mansion and both legislative chambers—to redraw the state’s congressional map in their favor. New Jersey Democrats will enjoy their largest Assembly majority in 52 years. And Georgia Democrats won two seats on the Public Service Commission, the state’s utility board. No Democrat has served on it since 2007.

The Georgia result is striking. The issue was high electricity costs—and Republican incumbents paid the price. Inflation hasn’t gone away. The annual rate has declined since its June 2022 peak of 9.1%, but 3% inflation is still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The reality of high prices hasn’t faded. Inflation is cumulative. Every decline in purchasing power makes the next reduction feel worse.

Voters notice. According to a CNN exit poll, 55% of New York voters said the cost of living was the most important issue. Crime was a distant second. In Virginia, 48% of voters said the economy was most important. Abigail Spanberger won them in a landslide.

In New Jersey, taxes (35%) and the economy (32%) vied for priority. But Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s margin on the economy was better than Jack Ciattarelli’s edge on taxes. And her 85% blowout among the 16% of voters who rated healthcare most important tipped the scales.