Ronald Reagan's Carter criticism return

In their only debate in 1980, Ronald Reagan asked the American people if they were better off today than they were 4 years earlier. Days later, Reagan won in a landslide, collecting 489 electoral votes. IBD/TIPP asked a similar question in their recent poll.

In the IBD/TIPP poll, they asked "Generally speaking, is your family better off today than it was one year ago, worse off than it was one year ago, or about the same as it was a year ago?" This is the reply:

Here's the reply:

Fewer than one in five (20%) said they were "better off" while more than twice that number — 42% — said they were "worse off." Another 36% said they were "about the same."

Republicans should pound this home morning, noon and nighttime from now until Election Day. People know that they're paying too much for gas, rent and to heat their homes. It doesn't take a genius to convince people of that.

Despite this, Biden's recent speeches have included references to the “best economic growth in the last four decades."

"We did it alone. Without one single solitary Republican vote," he said in Philadelphia on March 11, speaking to House Democrats. "It was the Democrats — it was you — that brought us back."

If that's the message, Americans don't seem to be buying it. And a big reason for that is likely the sudden scary surge in inflation, which hits low- and middle-class Americans hardest of all.

This is important for multiple reasons. First, there are far more rural/exurban districts than urban districts. Further, Republicans are winning back suburban districts. Potentially speaking, that gives Republicans a chance at a sizable wave in the House. Finally, this can't help but improve Republicans' chances of a bigger-than-expected improvement in the Senate.

In 1984, President Reagan won with a message of peace and prosperity. In 2022, will Republicans win big because Democrats have left this nation poorer, less safe and more pessimistic? That certainly appears a definite possibility.