AT via Magic Studio
More than three weeks after election day, commentators still try to explain the results.More than three weeks after election day, commentators still try to explain the results. The more “establishment” the commentator, the more likely they are to discuss less relevant details and miss the main point. The Democrats lost the 2024 election because of bad policies that failed very publicly. Those failures lingered through Biden’s entire term. Their nominee could not recover from those failures.
The Democrats began their term with a trillion dollar + spending bill. That spending caused inflation by sending too many dollars after the same goods and services in the U.S. economy. Prices of all consumer goods exploded to previously unknown heights. While the rate of inflation cooled as interest rates rose, prices remain high and consumer spending power was crippled. All this misery remains well known even though the MSM tries to distract us with other issues. It remains well known because it is real in the experience of the average person. We are reminded of inflation every time we visit a grocery store or a gas station. Our experience became more memorable when pranksters — with justification — would place stickers depicting Joe Biden saying “I did that!” next to the prices on gas pumps. The shocking memory of gasoline reaching three, four and then five dollars a gallon did not go away even when prices peaked and retreated somewhat. The television images of hoarders dangerously pouring gasoline into plastic bags and other unsafe containers are memorable. Those memories do not fade merely because the crises got no worse.
The establishment election analysis makes no mention of this ongoing problem. Instead, they focus on particular mistakes of the Harris campaign. They repeat accusations and finger pointing among Democrats. They discuss identity politics and the Harris campaign’s message(s) to minorities. We hear a rehash of the celebrity endorsements, the Cheney endorsements, the Walz nomination, disorganization within the Harris campaign, the timing of Biden’s withdrawal/Harris’ nomination and other tactical/strategy issues. Voters are denounced, including those who voted for Trump and those who failed to show up at all. If we get lost in this relative trivia, we lose focus on the spending that created the inflation that hurt the economy and boomeranged on the Democrats.
<img alt captext="AT via Magic Studio” class=”post-image-right” src=”https://conservativenewsbriefing.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/we-have-been-to-the-grocery-store.jpg” width=”400″>The Democrats’ message certainly reached the voters. They spent an unprecedented 1.5 billion dollars on the 2024 campaign. In swing states, it was impossible to watch programming on YouTube, Facebook, PlutoTv, or elsewhere without seeing Harris’ ads nonstop. Every few minutes, we were bombarded with the bootleg recording of Donald Trump acknowledging rich people at his fundraiser, accusations of a Trump national sales tax, Harris promising to crack down on “rip offs” and “price gouging,” alleged former Trump voters promising to support Harris (“a no brainer”), endless abortion discussion, fearmongering that Trump (and other Republicans) would cut Social Security and other recurring themes of the Harris campaign. Local radio broadcasts were similarly saturated. Voters can repeat those scripts in their sleep. There was hardly any ad space left to buy. No amount of additional spending/ads would have made any difference. Even different ads would not have changed the outcome. Democrats cannot explain away inflation, and the campaign proved that peripheral issues pale in comparison to inflation.
Commentators advise the Democrats to use different words next time, as if particular words could erase the memory of rising prices. In general, the Democrats are characterized as “looking for answers.” They do not know the answers because they refuse to acknowledge the role of inflation. By focusing on less important matters now, they might accomplish important policy goals for themselves in the future. The Democrat party cannot survive as we know it if most of the public is permitted to remember that the horrors of the past four years resulted from government spending. With the help of a compliant media, the Democrats have managed to blame inflation on Putin, Covid, “climate change” and a host of other irrelevant factors. With their base distracted by these diversions, the Democrats can continue to buy votes with government programs. If it ever becomes ingrained permanently in the public mind that every new dollar of government spending tends to push up prices of our most basic needs, that spending would face strong headwinds and might never happen.
We must forget about Kamala Harris. She is as irrelevant now as Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, John Kerry and others. The fight now is against executive branch power, government spending and the resulting inflation. We no longer fight the figurehead nominees of the past. The election was not really a victory over Harris. Once they had ignited the fires of inflation, there was little that a Harris (or a Biden) could do in a campaign. No amount of strategy, ads, identity politics or endorsements could erase the memory of nearly four years of inflation. The ultimate response to any Democrat attack ad was to say, “I am not buying it. I have been to the grocery store.” Most of the post-election analysis is thus pointless. We must remember that voters of both parties will continue to visit the grocery for the foreseeable future.
There is a lesson here for Republicans and the incoming administration. Trump cannot accomplish all of his goals within four years. The GOP needs to win more elections — and plenty of them. They will not do so if they stoke the fires of inflation with more spending. Both parties have spent too much over the decades. For Republicans it is usually a forced error caused by relentless pressure exerted by Democrats in coordination with a compliant media. But they lose elections as a result regardless of why they yield to inflationary pressure. Republicans will face enormous pressure to make deals with Democrats on spending and taxes. If that happens the MSM will blame Trump and the GOP. Next cycle’s Democrat ads will feature shoppers telling their sad stories from the grocery store. Those ads will be much more effective than the Democrat attack ads this year. Only if we refuse to repeat the Democrats’ big mistake will we retain the enthusiasm that made November 2024 historic.
Image: AT via Magic Studio
