Economy unlikely to help the Democrats

NO CHAMPAGNE bottles may have been popped in the White House last Wednesday (Aug 10). After all, opinion polls suggested that President Joe Biden’s job approval rating remained at a historic low of 38 per cent and that the Democrats were likely to lose their control over the House of Representatives after the November midterm elections.

Still, the news that the US inflation rate for July has fallen relative to previous months was certainly a cause for some celebration among the president’s economic and political aides as well as among Democrats preparing for the midterms.

For months the Biden administration has been trying to remind Americans voters of its economic successes, including a falling unemployment rate and rising wages. But the surging inflation remained at the top of the public’s worries as polls indicate that rapid price increases have eroded the confidence of Americans, many of whom blame the president for the rising gas and food prices.