Democrats’ Message to Voters Missed the Mark

It’s 2020, and former Vice President Joe Biden has struggled to defeat President Donald Trump. Democrats didn’t think it would be this way. However, given the results thus far, it’s clear that Americans are frustrated with Democrats. Why? Consider President Barack Obama’s two signature legislative accomplishments: the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Affordable Care Act.

Did Dodd-Frank cut down the size of banks considered “too big to fail”? No. Per the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, there were 24,000 banks in the United States in 1972. In 2008, there were about 9,000. In 2020? There are about 6,000. In other words, the big banks got bigger.

Did the Affordable Care Act make health care more affordable? No. In fact, since its passage, health care costs have exploded. Per the World Bank, U.S. per capita health care spending was $7,957 in 2010. In 2020, it’s expected to be $10,246. That’s a 28.7% increase. Yet, inflation over the same period averaged 1.67% per
year.

These are policy failures. Such failures have consequences. One of those consequences was Trump’s 2016 election. Another is that voters did not flock to Biden this year. Yet, Biden ran a campaign based on the idea that — and these are his words — “Nothing would fundamentally change.” In a country that elected and might re-elect Trump, that’s crazy talk.