Amid economic downturn, midterms are about money
Ballotpedia has kept a scorecard of the former president’s endorsements in the Republican primaries. Some 94 percent of candidates who earned Trump’s coveted support emerged victorious. While a majority of them might have won even without his nod, the Trump seal of approval did swing two major US Senate races in Ohio and Pennsylvania — key states that Republicans must win to recapture the White House in 2024.
Trump remains the most dominant and popular personality in the Republican Party. However, if every election revolves, to some extent, around pocketbook issues, this year, the economy will overshadow every other issue and person running for office.
The economy’s misery index zooms higher with each passing day.
Inflation is running at levels unseen since the 1970s, when Jimmy Carter, clad in his button-down cardigan sweater, bemoaned what became known as America’s national malaise. After assuring us throughout 2021 that inflation was “transitory,” the Federal Reserve Board last week hiked interest rates three-quarters of one percent in one day. In the first six months of 2022, interest rates on government debt have risen from close to zero to well over 3 percent.
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