Republicans and the Tyranny of Low Prices
Don’t make the election into a referendum on which party provides cheaper goods.
Tackling inflation has become one of the top goals of the Biden administration as it gears up for election season. It has attempted to use executive orders and statutory authority to curb price gouging and supply shortages. Supporters have highlighted the many ways in which the president’s policies have slowed the rise in prices and how Donald Trump’s program may undo this progress. Some combination of rhetoric and changing real-world conditions have worked in the president’s favor in recent weeks. Trump and Biden are now tied according to many polls, with Trump losing much of his slight edge in the past week or so.
Despite these shifts, many Democrats are still weary of the years-long inflation discourse. They would do anything to focus on jobs, health care, and other areas in which they poll better than Republicans. Democrats have stopped ignoring the problem or pretending it will go away at any moment. But they still have not coalesced around a set of policies that will adequately combat the problem and help the party overcome its rival on this defining issue.
The election is still eleven months away. In many ways, Biden needs to ensure that Democrats become the party that can responsibly handle inflation. Otherwise, the Republican Party…