Rising inflation and sky-high gas prices. Blatant mismanagement of foreign policy. A fading president losing his grip on reality. These were all attacks used by Republicans against former President Joe Biden during his four-year term. Both President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson called Biden “the worst president” in America’s history. If he was indeed the worst president, as Republicans claim, they’ve surpassed that mark easily. Two years on from Trump’s win in 2024, just about every facet of American life, policy and politics is worse. In this midterm election, typically seen as less important than the presidential contests, you simply can’t afford to vote Republican.
There is no bigger concern than affordability this year. The economy is often talked about as a major decider in our elections — a poor rating on economic outcomes can sink a party — but this year, the cost of living is extremely important. Especially when compared to the immense amounts of wealth that billionaires in league with Trump have accrued, the struggle to make a living is stark. According to a report from the Financial Health Network, 17% of U.S. households are having trouble paying their bills, the highest percentage recorded in the 10 years they’ve studied. Republicans, of course, blame the poor state of the economy on the Democrats. But 645 days have passed since Democrats held the Oval Office, and 1,392 days since Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress. Republicans have been in power as inflation has risen to 3.6%, up from 3% when Biden left office.
Trump’s wildly swinging tariff policy has been one cause of this economic debacle. His constant reverses and so-called “reciprocal tariffs” caused devastating and precipitous drops in the stock market last year. More recently, the Trump administration started a trade war with Canada, traditionally one of our closest allies, levying 50% tariffs on many Canadian imports. This has deeply affected much of America’s economy, especially in states near the Canadian border, who often rely on goods from up north to fill their markets.
The other economic boogeyman, which also relates to foreign policy, is the high gas prices caused by America’s war of choice against Iran. U.S. attacks led Iran’s leaders to close the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow channel which normally accounts for 25% of the world’s global oil shipping. Trump’s shifting and flimsy justifications for the Iran War, which I have written about at length, have not made up for the pressure at the pump that Americans have faced. And the war has still not ended, despite the billions of dollars in military equipment and expenditure we’ve thrown at it.
The Republicans’ grievous errors on the economy and foreign policy have been amplified by a president that has gone off the rails, if he was ever on the track to begin with. During Trump’s second term, he has instituted excessively cruel and restrictive immigration policies. He has brought us into another quagmire with Iran; he has been belligerent to our allies and friendly to enemies like Russia.
Perhaps Trump’s greatest sin, though, is poisoning the well of American politics. He has unleashed such a stream of lies, false claims and nonsense that facts have been incomprehensibly muddled. I’m hopeful the lies are starting to catch up with him; even with Trump, one can’t keep promising without results forever. Eventually, the constant blaming of others will fall on you once again. It doesn’t help that he goes off on hopelessly lost tangents or offensive rants every other minute.
Now hold on a minute, you might say. Trump isn’t on the ballot this year. So why are you bringing him up so much? Why, after mentioning Trump in your article titles 15 times (yes, I counted), do you feel the need to talk more about him? To this I firstly respond: I never wanted to talk about him either. But secondly, Trump really is on the ballot, even though his name isn’t. He hangs over this midterm election like a shadow. He is the anchor that Republicans are getting dragged down with in the polls. And every Republican whose name you could bubble in this Nov. 3 should be forced to answer for his failures. Trump himself agrees; he asked his supporters to “pretend” he’s on the ballot, giving everyone else a great reason to vote blue.
The Republican-controlled Congress could have stopped Trump. At the very least, they could have resisted the worst of his transgressions. But Republicans have rolled over in the past two years and essentially given Trump whatever he wants, such as the “Big Beautiful Bill” that cut healthcare benefits and gave a tax break to wealthy Americans. There are vanishingly few maverick lawmakers such as the late John McCain, who cast the decisive “no” vote on repealing Obamacare in 2017, to oppose him. Every Republican in Congress, at one time or another, has tied themselves to Trump.
Now, with the polls looking bad for Republicans, they’re finally trying to get some distance from the president. We must make sure this late about-face is recognized for a farce. Trump is the Republican Party, and you can’t afford to vote for either.