Democrats across the country are increasingly bracing for a brutal midterm election cycle this fall, with voters angry with rising prices poised to deliver a punishing blow to the party in control of Congress and the White House.

With inflation rising and the war in Ukraine causing global uncertainty, public sentiment is growing worse and poses an ever-growing threat to Democrats’ stranglehold on power in Washington.

The consumer confidence survey from the University of Michigan found its current level to be the lowest in over a decade, and an AP/NORC poll found that 70% of Americans think the economy is doing badly, and 81% see a recession coming this year.

“The big run-up in gas and food and home prices has really caused great hardship for many households,” said veteran economist Richard Curtin of the University of Michigan. “And the Biden administration made a critical error in saying it would be transient and people should just tough it out. It wasn’t transient. A lot of people couldn’t tough it out. And it caused a big loss of confidence in[Biden’s] policies.”

A senior Biden aide told Politico that the White House knows full well that its narrative on the economy is rapidly falling apart, and they are down to few options to try to change Democrats’ prospects in the midterms.

“There are still things we can do and arguments we can make, but frankly it would have been better had Vladimir Putin not invaded Ukraine,” the aide said.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)