President Joe Biden goes into next year’s election with a vexing challenge: Just as the U.S. economy is getting stronger, people are still feeling horrible about it.

Pollsters and economists say there has never been as wide a gap between the underlying health of the economy and public perception. The divergence could be a decisive factor in whether the Democrat secures a second term next year. Republicans are seizing on the dissatisfaction to skewer Biden, while the White House is finding less success as it tries to highlight economic progress.

“Things are getting better and people think things are going to get worse — and that’s the most dangerous piece of this," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, who has worked with Biden. Lake said voters no longer want to just see inflation rates fall — rather, they want an outright decline in prices, something that last happened on a large scale during the Great Depression.

“Honestly, I’m kind of mystified by it,” she said.

  • Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    18
    ·
    11 months ago

    Things like record lows for unemployment for example, nothing to do with the stock market. There have been a lot of important wins for Americans.

    People are working two and three jobs to get by. And our unemployment figure doesn’t count people who have given up looking for work. Saying “unemployment is low” is not the flex you think it is.