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To the Editor:

When William Jefferson “Slick Willie” Clinton ran for President of the United States in 1992, James Carville reminded him about the importance of focusing on ameliorating the economic and financial woes of the citizenry. In fact, Carville coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, Stupid.”

Many people did not now where they were going to get their next meal. Some were old enough to remember the doom and gloom days of the Great Depression (1929-1941) where strangers were asked, “Brother, could you spare a dime?”

Now, in 2024, many Americans still are forced to choose between heating and eating. Seemingly, when one goes to the grocery store, he becomes victimized through highway robbery. Economists, political pundits, and others blame inflation for the recent increases in prices at the grocery store and beyond. Countless citizens live from paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford $500 in the event of an emergency.

President Biden may be mistaken if he believes his re-election in November of 2024 is a guarantee. In fact, a recent MSNBC poll indicates that 55 percent of Americans believe the truculent former President Trump will do a better job handling the economy. Contrariwise, 33 percent believe President Biden will do a better job. Moreover, numerous constituents may penalize the President by not voting if they are not doing well economically.

Current financial data show that the economy is improving and that joblessness is down under this Administration, thanks in part to Bidenomics. However, some folks do not feel that their plight has improved over the last four years.

In any event, Biden must reassure the American people that he has their best interests – financial and otherwise – at heart. If not, he may become a one-term President like Herbert Hoover, who was President at the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929, and Jimmy Carter, who presided over double-digit inflation and high interest rates during his Presidency spanning from 1977 to 1981. By the way, the American Hostage Crisis and the concomitant, failed hostage rescue attempt help doom his Presidency. Needless to say, Hoover reportedly promised a “chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.”

President Biden needs seasoned campaign advisers to help him connect with impecunious Americans feeling a sense of hopelessness and despair. Such advisors might remind the American people that Trump’s economic policies derive from Trickle-Down Economics, which George Herbert Walker Bush derided as“voodoo economics,” just before he became the vice-presidential running mate of then Governor Ronald Reagan in 1980. The basic tenet of tricke-down economics involves giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy, including big corporations, and believing the benefits of such tax relief will trickle down to the Middle Class and poor.

Assuming former President Trump will not be in a jail cell in November, he, unequivocally, will give the President a run for his money.

Keith W. Cooper

Greenville