David Tafuri, foreign policy commentator and former State Department official joined Cheddar News to discuss key issues that matter to voters ahead of the midterm election. 

David Tafuri, a former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor a former State Department official, joined Cheddar News to discuss issues impacting voters in the 2022 midterm elections. “If you look at polling, it suggests that most people believe the economy is doing poorly," Tafuri noted. "One recent poll says 78 percent of Americans rate economic conditions as poor or very poor."

Wake Up With Cheddar

Is the Economy Top of Mind for Midterm Voters?

joining us now to discuss top issues for voters Is David Tafuri, former Obama campaign, foreign policy adviser and former State Department official good to have you here, thanks so much for joining us. Obviously, the economy a major issue heading into the midterms. We even saw former President, former former President Obama and joe biden talking about it over the weekend in pennsylvania. So how are people feeling on the matter across the country? What are you hearing? Well, certainly there's an expectation that people's views on the economy is going to impact the results on the midterm elections tomorrow. And if you look at polling, it suggests that most people believe the economy is doing poorly. Uh one recent poll says 78% of Americans rate economic conditions as poor or very poor. So that's concerning for the democrats. Interestingly though, the economy is still experiencing growth and there's still new jobs being created, there's still very low unemployment, but there's just terrible inflation and that is painful for most people across America and people are likely to vote based on their pocketbooks tomorrow. And so I think there is reason to be To have concern if you're a Democrat and you're hoping to keep the house and keep the Senate based on the inflation numbers and the polling and obviously as we see right here, those who favor the economy are going with Republicans, to 34% here. Why have they decided to go with Republicans. And how can Democrats sort of counter the narrative that Republicans are saying about the economy here. Look, historically, whichever party controls the White House normally loses seats in Congress in the midterm elections. And that's going to be possibly exacerbated for democrats because of inflation numbers. And and it's, you know, that's just how voters feel. They normally blame the party in power if they feel like the economy is not doing well. It's interesting though, if you look across the world, it's not just America that is experiencing high inflation, it's this is a trend across the world. So it's really hard if you're thinking about it, looking at the numbers, if you're studying the data, you might not blame the biden administration, but many voters likely will because they're just acting on how they feel about how they're their own economic situation is going. And it doesn't help that those who have savings in the stock market are also looking at their savings losses in their savings because of the losses on the market. Yeah, in europe inflation even higher than it is here in the United States, David renters are usually a voting group that's typically not considered as pivotal electors, but how might they be pivotal if they show up tomorrow? Well, I mean, renters also, and, you know, they're also experiencing increases in rent. Um that's part of the inflation numbers. So, um and and and and and that combined with the increases in in the cost of energy, the cost of heating your home, especially going into winter is also something that is going to impact voters. Okay, um, any expectations tomorrow? What are you going to sort of see in terms of the numbers tomorrow? Who do you think at the end of the day wins here? Are we expecting a red wave? Like many prognosticators are saying is going to happen? I think, you know, on your previous report, you talked about how the pennsylvania Senate election is key. That could very well decide whether the democrats are able to continue to control the Senate or not. Um, and particularly, you know, that the Fetterman Oz race, also Georgia as as was also discussed in your previous report, is going to be key. I'm looking those two states really to decide the Senate in the House. You know, most people are predicting that the republicans are going to take the House. It's just a question of by what margin they take the House. I think it'll still be a thin margin. So when people talk about policies changing, it seems pretty unlikely because the republicans are not going to gain enough seats in the House. And if they win the Senate in the Senate to really, you know, pass, ask any laws, they're not gonna be able to, for instance, um, you know, withdraw the inflation reduction act or do things like that, that they want to do because they're not gonna have enough of a margin to do that. Yeah. And again, in Georgia, if it doesn't get to that 50% level, we'll have a runoff. So maybe even that is basically going to be the race to control who controls the Senate here, David To furry, former Obama campaign foreign policy adviser and former State Department official. David, thank you for joining us.