AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
So, who really believes Joe Biden and his running dogs in the liberal media when they say things are actually OK? What tiny percentage of Americans are they talking to?
Gloom consumes America. Some 73percent of respondents say the United States is on the wrong track, the highest portion since 1989, when that polling question was first asked. In similar polls, there’s been a prolonged downward trend in Americans’ satisfaction with the direction of the country, from a peak of 71 percent in 1999 to just 22 percent today. Biden’s 39 percent approval is the lowest of any president running for a second term a year out from the election. Inflation hit 8.9 percent. The cost of rent and food rose two or three times as much as incomes.
Truth be damned. A whole intellectual industry has developed to support Joe, making excuses as to why the dumb Americans in the heartland don’t see the glories of Bidenomics. The industry has come up with three explanations. Let’s see if they make sense.
It’s the Media, Stupid. This is part of a bigger problem, presupposing most of the American interior is made of dummies who believe everything they hear on places like talk radio. Never mind kitchen table economics; it’s all in your head, idiot.
Referral Syndrome. This hypothesis comes from the Wall Street Journal, which speculates Americans see so many mass shootings, so much immigration chaos, so many overdose deaths, and proxy wars they simply feel bad about everything (which, economy aside, does not bode well for the incumbent). So when pollsters ask their views on the economy, they get a negative response, because people just feel overwhelmingly negative.
Fatalism. Pretending the economy is just dandy wouldn’t be complete with some candy from Paul Krugman. The New York Times’ resident soothsayer claims all is well if only you could see things from the perspective of a rich New Yorker who writes gibberish for a living. Krugman also postulates Trump supporters who believe Biden stole the 2020 election are so apocalyptic they skew the whole nation’s outlook on other issues.
While the inflation rate may be declining somewhat, the cost of food and transportation is still higher than pre-Covid levels. The problem for Joe is these are not problems of perception; they are disasters surrounding real, concrete home economics. We’re left with the conclusion that the economy really may be treating the bulk of non-coastal Americans poorly, the ones for whom high mortgage interest rates mean the difference between a home of their own and scraping by to pay the (rising) rent…
