NEWS AND OPINION:
Political messaging gets ever more clever. Such is the case with a new website called Biden-Mart.com, which is — in the language of yore — a handy-dandy way to see how food prices have increased from former President Donald Trump’s time in office to the current administration.
“Putting food on the table has become harder than ever thanks to ’Bidenomics.’ As costs for everyday items continue to rise, American families are struggling more and more to foot the bill,” a welcoming message at the site says.
“Check off the items from the list below to compile your weekly grocery list and see how much more expensive your bill has become under Joe Biden,” the simple instructions state.
Indeed, there are 29 items on the list that typically appear in American grocery carts — including ground beef, potatoes, coffee, cookies, eggs and ice cream.
The source for the comparison is Agriculture Department data.
For example, take 2 pounds of ground beef. The price was $6.18 in January 2021, shortly before Mr. Trump left office. That cost is now $10.26 — up 66%. Two pounds of apples were $1.89 in the Trump era; those apples now cost $3.99 — up 111%. A pound of sugar was once $2.57 — now it’s $4.97, or a 93% increase.
The site itself was paid for by Make America Great Again PAC, a super PAC that supports Mr. Trump.
A POTENTIAL WIN
So how is Mr. Trump doing in the race for the White House? Well, he’s actually doing pretty well, says one analyst.
“There are about seven months until Election Day, but right now, Donald Trump’s road to victory in the 2024 presidential race looks surprisingly smooth,” writes Jim Geraghty, senior political correspondent for National Review.
“If you’re an incumbent president running for reelection like Joe Biden, you definitely want to have a job-approval rating higher than 39.1%. As grim as that figure seems, that’s actually a bit higher than it has been in recent weeks. If you’re Biden, you would prefer that people rate the state of the economy highly — they do not — and that they think the country is on the right track instead of headed in the wrong direction. Those numbers are similarly grim for an incumbent president,” Mr. Geraghty says.
“If you’re Biden, you would prefer to be ahead in the head-to-head matchups in national polls, with or without the likely third-party candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein,” he continues.
“You would prefer to consistently lead in swing states such as Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. That is not the case. You can find a good poll for Biden here and there, but the majority point to Trump leads — usually narrow, but sometimes not-so-narrow. A Fox News survey released March 27 had Trump ahead in Pennsylvania, 50% to 45%,” Mr. Geraghty says.
“If you’re the Biden campaign, you’d like to see some poll numbers pointing to a chance to pick off a reddish state or two like Florida, Iowa, or North Carolina. So far, those numbers aren’t there. If you’re pulling for Biden, you might even wonder if there was a chance of winning four of Maine’s electoral votes instead of only three, and realize that’s looking like a long shot, too. In fact, Maine as a whole could well turn red this year, at least based upon one poll conducted in mid February,” he continues.
“If you’re the Biden campaign, and you’re looking for recently competitive states that look pretty secure, you’re limited to Minnesota and New Hampshire. (Trump lost Minnesota by just 1.5% back in 2016.) Add it all up, and you have a formula for Donald Trump winning more than 270 electoral votes in November,” Mr. Geraghty concludes.
POMPEO HAS A SAY
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remains focused on the state of the nation, and he has both a warning and a recommendation.
“Under President Trump, our enemies feared us. Now, they laugh at us. We’ve seen the deadly and dangerous cost of losing that deterrence. We’ve seen the global destruction caused by President Joe Biden’s far-Left foreign policy agenda. Our country, and the world at large, simply cannot afford four more years of his weak leadership.” Mr. Pompeo said in a written campaign message sent to Inside the Beltway on behalf of Mr. Trump’s campaign.
“Saving our nation from Biden and his radical Senate allies means delivering them both a resounding defeat this November. America needs President Trump back in the White House and a Trump Senate Majority in Congress,” Mr. Pompeo said.
POLL DU JOUR
• 64% of U.S. adults say they would not choose to live in another country besides the U.S. if they were free to do so; 77% of Republicans, 58% of independents and 62% of Democrats agree.
• 70% of conservatives, 67% of moderates and 50% of liberals agree.
• 67% of men and 62% of women also agree.
• 34% overall say they would choose to live in another country besides the U.S. if they were free to do so; 22% of Republicans, 41% of independents and 35% of Democrats agree.
• 28% of conservatives, 32% of moderates and 48% of liberals agree.
• 32% of men and 35% of women also agree.
Source: A Monmouth University poll of 902 U.S. adults conducted Feb. 8-12 and released March 26.
• Follow Jennifer Harper on X @HarperBulletin and on Facebook @HarperUniverse.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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