Perception Is Reality: Democrats Are Altering Reality to Create the Perception of Crisis

Sen. J. William Fulbright (D-Ark.) wrote in his 1964 book Old Myths and New Realities, "In politics, as in international relations, if you are explaining, you are losing." This has become a political adage that politicians ignore at their peril.

Former Vice President Walter Mondale forgot that adage in 1984 when running against President Ronald Reagan. He tried to spin Jimmy Carter's catastrophic record positively. He lost 49 states.

Republicans are trying to defend Donald Trump's record by pointing to Joe Biden's dismal term in office and trying to compare and contrast Trump's second-term record with Biden's. 

Why isn't it working better? The GOP claims the media are driving the "affordability crisis" narrative that focus groups and polls tell the Democrats is a winning strategy. They cite alternative statistics showing things were much worse under Biden and that Trump has improved the economy in his 22 months in office.

Voters don't appear to be buying it.

In 2026, "The optic is the message," meaning the visual image or quick soundbite the public remembers overrides complex policy explanations and nuance. It's unfortunate, but it's a reality that Republicans must overcome if they don't want to lose next month.

"Affordability and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been the rallying cries of Democrats as they try to take back the House and Senate in November," writes Washington Examiner's Joe Concha. "The party is depending on voters to have the memory of a goldfish, hoping they cannot recall how we got high prices and rampant illegal immigration in the first place.

"Memory" doesn't matter. It's like the aliens in Close Encounters of the Third Kind implanting a shared vision in people's minds. Those memories have been, if not erased, then softened around the edges and replaced with Evil Trump and Heartless Republicans. The vision implanted in voters' minds by Democratic image makers and propagandists is almost as if the Biden years never happened or are irrelevant.

Nor are the Democratic campaigns saying much about what they're really going to do, besides impeach, impeach, and impeach.

Wall Street Journal:

So what are Democrats now proposing to improve affordability? More of the same policies—more spending on welfare and “affordable” housing, more green-energy subsidies, more healthcare regulation and higher minimum wages nationwide.

Democrats claimed the Affordable Care Act would reduce healthcare costs. But that law’s command-and-control regulations drove industry consolidation and pushed up prices instead. Premiums for employer plans have roughly doubled since 2010, rising at about twice the rate of inflation.

As for tariffs, Joe Biden vowed in the 2020 campaign to repeal Mr. Trump’s first term border taxes but never did. You can’t believe Democrats will do so now, especially given that labor unions support many of the tariffs. Democrats also want to raise taxes on business, which would flow to consumers in higher prices.

“We have the best economy in the world,” Trump said recently. “There’s no economy like this economy. The only thing we don’t have is good public relations. We don’t seem to be able to get the word across. That’s because of the press.”

It doesn't matter if Trump is right about the U.S. having "the best economy in the world." True or false is irrelevant when the voters perceive something different. In this, all voters are economic experts. They know their personal financial situation better than anyone. They don't need the Democrats or Republicans to tell them how they're doing financially, whether they're anxious about the future, or whether they worry about high prices.

For Trump and the Republicans, the solution is obvious: change the narrative. For that, Trump needs an "October Surprise" that will force the media to write and talk about something besides "affordability." A clear victory in Iran would help, as would another foreign policy triumph. Beyond that, Trump himself must take to the hustings. He has proven in the past to be his own best salesman, and boosting Republican turnout could save a couple of Senate seats. 

Otherwise, we can expect two dreary years of impeachment proceedings and insufferable posturing by Democrats.

Editor's Note: President Trump is leading America into the "Golden Age" as Democrats desperately try to stop it.  

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