Courting voters in the homestretch: "It's the economy [still], stupid"

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With barely 3 weeks to go, the Trump/Vance campaign is leaning heavily into freewheeling dissemination of misinformation to hype fears and sell Donald Trump as the answer to invented problems.  Even with Vance admitting his Haitian immigrant claims are false, Trump's campaign appears to view mobilization of acts of violence from Springfield to North Carolina where Trump baselessly claimed the Biden administration held back aid to flood victims, as proof their strategy is working. 

Consumer expert Dr. Ines Poza of Poza Consulting Services points out the Harris/Walz campaign is taking aim at divisive, fear-mongering rhetoric like Trump's repeated "enemy within" claims. However, she says, all of this is just distraction, with the Harris/Walz campaign taking the bait. 

The most recent Gallup poll found 90% of voters say the economy is a "very" to "extremely important" influence on their vote, well ahead of "democracy."  Research shared this week by Entravision/Altamed/BSP suggests similar findings among Latino voters regardless of how they split on other issues.  Close to 90% of Latinos across California and Texas say the cost of living, jobs and the economy are their 3 main concerns this election.

According to Dr. Poza, "Whether rich, poor, Latino, Caucasian, African American, Asian or other, the pinch people feel in the cost of living motivates them to vote with their wallets, and for now, Trump still polls stronger on this issue."  She continues, "Let Trump talk about 'the enemy within'.  This gives Harris/Walz the opportunity to take the spotlight on the economy and hit hard with compelling messaging about their economic plan.  If while they're at it, they can succinctly connect the dots between Trump's unhinged rants and his unhinged economic plan that will leave us worse off, great, but otherwise it's a mistake to give Trump's rants, oxygen."  Poza concludes, "That's why Walz dismissing Trump and Vance as weird, worked so well.  Nothing deflates a blustering bully like showing you're the grown-up in the room."

Contact Dr. Poza at [email protected]

SOURCE Poza Consulting Services