Would you rather run on this economy or be responsible for its ruin?

Part III of a series "Why the GOP should rooting for Trump to lose"

Ah, the Devil’s choice.

If you think the economy is about to collapse or is on the brink of a collapse; politically, you’d want to have your opponenent stuck holding the bag. But if the economy doesn’t collapse or worse still, politically speaking, it improves on your opponenent’s watch — you’re left struggling to find other issues to squawk about.

When the GOP’s talking points turn to crime and immigration, take it from this observational economist, the economy is doing quite well. Unemployment below 4%, strong GDP growth, wages outpacing inflation, and the pandemic weary public seems more focused its plans for Summer vacations, the Olympics, and a Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce focused NFL schedule this Fall than on politics and economic policy. And as if on cue, the Right Wing media has turned to its traditional bogeymen — People of Color bring crime and dystopia.

The border crisis lost its urgency when Joe Biden called the GOP’s bluff by agreeing to sign into law their legislative demands. Trump then ordered the GOP to drop it, so he could use it as a campaign issue, which proved three things.

There is no border crisis, the American public has caught on to the GOP’s faux “crime is rampant” messaging, and no one in Republican Party wants to run against the American economy — except maybe Donald Trump.

Donald Trump’s rallies and stump speeches are littered with talk of economic collapse, Herbert Hoover references, and an unbridled insistence that Trump alone can fix everything. The problem with that messaging, outside of the weirdness of bringing up Republican Herbert Hoover nearly 100 years after his policies brought on The Great Depression, is that 40 year old Ronald Reagan query — “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

Four years ago, there was an ill-timed tax cut for the rich followed by a recession. Blaming COVID for the bad economy under Trump’s watch won’t sell well, when the Democrats have a slew of deep cuts outlining just how abysmally Donald Trump handled the pandemic as well.

Trump’s economic plan is largely a rehashing of trickle down nonsense, expansive tariff policies, and cutting Social Security and Medicare to pay for it all.

If the Political Right believes that Keynesianism is the root of economic ruin, it ought to be cautious in supporting Trump in 2024. If Trump is in the White House for a second recession, he’ll be blamed for it. If Biden is there, the GOP can blame the economic policies of the Political Left.