Taisha Blackwell (24), voted for Joe Biden in 2020, but says she will vote for Republican former president Donald Trump this year, and the main reason is high food and housing prices.
Blackwell, who lives southwest of Detroit in Michigan, a key state, says she now has a better job, but her rent has since doubled after she had to move, and her food and utility costs have risen, Reuters reports.
"I'm no worse off than I was four years ago," Blackwell said on the sidelines of a rally held by Trump's running mate JD Vance in Detroit this month.
"However, compared to that period, things are really, really expensive here. I used to pay $575 and now I pay $1.100 just for rent. I remember a kilo of minced meat was $6,60. Now it's $11. Everything is more expensive."
Voters in the seven states that will decide the winner of the Nov. 5 election have a negative view of the economy
Reuters reminds that the developed world envied the United States for its post-Covid-19 economic recovery, when strong consumption and investment by businesses and the government helped the economy avoid the predicted recession. Stock markets are at record highs, jobs and wages are growing rapidly, unemployment is low, and inflation is now below January 2020 levels after a spike in 2022.
However, the prices of food, rent, utilities and pleasures such as dining out are all well above 2019 levels, due to complex factors over which the US government has limited influence, such as labor costs, lack of competition and supply chain problems, according to the British agency.
Many Americans are in a constant state of shock over rising prices, Reuters reports, adding that this may explain why voters in seven key states that will determine the winner of the Nov. 5 election have a negative view of the economy. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll this month, 61 percent of them say the economy is headed in the wrong direction, and 68 percent say the cost of living is on the wrong track.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Trump proposed different solutions. Harris has promised to fight excessive price increases and increase tax breaks for families, while Trump has proposed cutting overtime taxes, imposing blanket tariffs on imports that he says will bring manufacturing back to the U.S. and deporting immigrants en masse.
Trump's proposed tariffs and threats of deportation will raise the prices of goods and services, many economists say, while Kamala Harris's ban on excessive price gouging has not been tested at the federal level.
However, in response to the question of which candidate has a better approach in this field, Trump led in the economy - 46 percent to 38 percent, a Reuters poll showed this month.
Economists say they sense voter frustration even if they don't think Trump's plan will help.
"I understand inflation better than the average person, and I used to work at the Federal Reserve, but inflation bothers me," said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, who has criticized Trump's tariff plans in the past.
"When I walk into a restaurant that I've been going to for years and ... instead of $50, now I pay $70, I feel like someone punched me in the face and stole $20 from my wallet," Strain said.
Taisha Blackwell of Michigan says she supports Trump's claim that the tariffs are needed to prevent imports and protect US jobs. "Yes, it may increase the price for consumers, but in the long run something has to be done," she said.
Kamala Harris' visit to Michigan on Monday is her tenth since becoming the party's nominee. Reuters says the state is still recovering from the loss of more than a third of its auto industry jobs since 1990 and supported Trump in 2016, while Biden won by less than three percentage points in 2020.
Kamala Harris's campaign has more than 375 staffers in the state, nearly four times as many as Trump's, but a compilation of polls from FiveThirtyEight shows Harris with less than a percentage point lead over Trump in the state.
Michigan's unemployment rate has been consistently higher than the national average for years, but last year the state hit its highest employment level and lowest unemployment rate in 20 years, thanks to an influx of federal infrastructure money.
Ameshia Cross, a Democratic strategist, said the Biden administration deserves credit for creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in Michigan and across the country, but the high cost of living continues to have a big impact on voters.
"There are a lot of things that people are feeling in terms of their personal economy that aren't reflected in the employment numbers," Cross said, including concerns about the impact of electric vehicles on the local auto industry, as well as the cost of housing and food.
"People are looking to see if they have the money to do things they could do a few years ago, and most would tell you they can't," she said. "All politics is personal. Their attitude determines what they go through on a daily basis."
Devin Jones, 20, a college student who lives in Flint, Michigan, said his parents — both military veterans — had to move and buy a cheaper house in Goshen, Indiana, after inflation rose. They also postponed a long-promised trip for his 18th birthday to Germany, where Jones was born.
The increase in the prices of minced meat and eggs is "ridiculous", he said. "Under Trump, under previous administrations, things were fine. It wasn't too expensive," he added.
Not everyone is unhappy.
Stu Billie, 43, an auto industry union member and former Marine who lives in Flint, Michigan, said his union job now earns him $40 an hour. A few years ago he was making $16 an hour.
"Union work has drastically improved my life situation. I'm doing a lot better now, but that has to do with negotiating the contract," he said, adding that rising food prices bother him less now that his salary is higher.
Billie says he voted for Biden in 2020 and will support Harris, but added that there is significantly less enthusiasm for her than for other Democrats like Biden or former President Barack Obama.
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