If you want the briefest possible explanation of why Democrats lost the presidency and Congress in 2024, it was because swing voters cared a lot about inflation and the politicians running the country decided to talk about everything else. Yes, they had talking points about inflation, but they were mostly defensive (it wasn’t as bad as it had been, it was due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control, etc.). And they decided to try to force people to think instead about their issues, such as abortion rights and the threat Donald Trump posed to democracy. It didn’t work.

Now Trump seems to be making the same mistake. Many of his voters expected him to actually reduce prices on groceries and other consumer goods. Instead he’s insisting on waging a trade war that has created all sorts of upward pressure on prices, particularly if they continue and producers are no longer willing to absorb........

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