Why Americans aren’t feeling good about Joe Biden (and it’s not his age)
Soaring food prices hit us where we feel it most
Dylan sent me this graphic from an article by Jesse Newman and Heather Haddon at the Wall Street Journal and it leapt off the screen. It tells the story of why, arguably, Joe Biden’s otherwise stellar domestic economic performance- one that has distinguished America from all other industrial nations- is being met at home with such a thud.
I’ve seen the numbers and appreciate how good Biden’s record is historically (any incumbent president would be dancing on air with Biden’s economic report card). I’ll spare you the details- here’s an excellent summation that was published in the Washington Post late last year. Nonetheless, he’s trailing Donald Trump in recent polling.
Voters will look beyond the fact that Biden is moving and speaking noticeably slower- just as they look beyond Donald Trump being donald trump. The economy has historcially been a primary barometer in predicting an incumbent’s electoral prospects. Biden should be on a roll, or so one would think. Except this year. Something is different, and I suspect it may well be mostly about high food costs.
Food was a salvation to all of us during the pandemic: we ate and drank well, even if alone. As we crawled back out from sheltering-in-place and taking those damn Covid tests we’ve embraced dining out and ordering in with a fervor. The data show it.
Food is joy, it’s love and it’s the most nurturing way by which we salve our anxieties from a genocide in Gaza, a war in Europe, a planet on fire and a crazy af domestic body politic. Have you noticed how expensive it is to dine out, takeout or cook at home? I have- though I was unaware of the historical magnitue of food price inflation. For sure I am not feeling Bidenomics in the same way, say, that I felt boosted by Covid-19 stimulus and support packages rolled out by the Trump and Biden administrations. Things just feel…tight? And I love, love to eat well- as does Dylan- which only exacerbates our malaise.
We’re not alone. My friend Evan from Chicago wrote:
Alex bought a premarinated chicken, some salad mix and 2 or 3 other small things at the store yesterday for dinner. $50….Everything feels like a scam.
He has a point. Kellogg CEO Gary Pillnick was on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street yesterday pitching cereal for dinner. Yup. As rising food prices push families further in the hole, cereal for dinner is “trending” in the words of Pillnick.
“Let them eat cereal.” Trump will beat that drum to death- not a good trend for Joe Biden’s re-election prospects. And there is not a helluva lot Biden can do to reign in food prices between now and November.