As we watch the presidential campaigns unfold, a sea change is realigning American politics.
Consider the evidence:
First, voters consistently say they wish they had other choices at the top of the ticket. But former President Trump and Vice President Harris are the main choices, and the parties are using the media to reshape and even reinvent the candidates.
Harris is now about “joy” and “turning a new chapter.” Trump is the successful ex-president who kept inflation low, incomes high, and U.S. soldiers out of new wars.
Second, Democrats now are aligning with Mr. Trump: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is campaigning with the ex-president as is former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. A labor union official gave a fiery speech at the GOP convention, along with other liberals. Sounds like the Reagan years in building “a new majority.”
The Democrats also are reinventing their party—or at least putting up a less woke façade. That’s another reason that Kamala is obscuring the details of her left-of-center policy record—from Medicare for All to open borders. Democrats also are stressing abortion because it is a motivating issue for young voters, especially women, who may only casually follow politics. The regular man-or-woman in the streets interviews show that few of them can explain Kamala’s policy achievements.
Finally, the numbers. Congress could take a major step to correct the nation’s finances by requiring: 1) able-bodied adults to have mandatory work requirements to receive welfare benefits; 2) the Census Bureau to count all transfer payments as income; and 3) all federal agencies should use the same income measure when determining eligibility for welfare.
The chairman of the House Budget Committee Jodey Arrington (R-TX) wrote about this in today’s Wall Street Journal: “Requiring all able-bodied Americans to work as a condition for receiving welfare would do more than reduce the deficit. It would bring people back into the economy, the source of prosperity and economic independence.”
That’s the key—and also a good bumper sticker:
