Pollster Biden warns Democrats inflation is a major concern

A leading Democratic pollster has warned party officials that skyrocketing inflation is affecting leading voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections, according to a new report.

Celinda Lake, who worked for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and still advises the White House, told Axios the issue of rising prices was rising in both public polls and focus groups. .

“Women voters are really experiencing it, because they are always more focused on the kitchen table economics, the microeconomics,” Lake told the outlet, later adding that “the key target vote in the election of 2022 will be women who have not graduated from college.… Because they are the most undecided

Consumer prices are rising at the fastest rate in 13 years as the economy tries to shake off the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this month, the Ministry of Labor’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures a basket of goods and services as well as energy and food costs, jumped 5.4 % between June 2020 and June 2021. This is the largest 12-month increase in the CPI since a 5.4 percent increase ending in August 2008.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Consumer Expectation Study found Americans expect a median inflation rate of 4.8% over the next 12 months.

The White House has wavered between trying to downplay the problem – including in a very detailed tweet alleging Americans would enjoy cheaper barbecues on July 4 this year than in 2020 – and claiming the price hike shows the need to spend more. $ 4 trillion in new spending.

“The vast majority of experts, including Wall Street, suggest that it is highly unlikely that long-term inflation is going to get out of hand,” Biden told an interviewer at a CNN town hall event in Cincinnati Wednesday night. . “There will be short-term inflation as everything is now trying to pick up.”

“It’s rational, when you think about it,” added the president. “The cost of an automobile is a little back to what it was before the pandemic. “

An Ipsos poll earlier this month found that 27% of Americans attribute inflation to persistent supply chain problems linked to the pandemic, while another 20% blame “companies raising prices for compensate for the losses of last year “. Only 17% blame “government policies”.

Despite the White House’s claim that inflation is a short-term problem, Lake told Axios she advised Democratic politicians to let voters know they were feeling their pain – and had plans to reduce the cost of living.