Last Monday’s edition of the Editorial Board was about what you would say to someone who believes the economy is terrible. In fact, this is probably the best economy we have seen in half a century. A lot of people, however, aren’t feeling it, according to some polls. “What would you say?” I asked readers. The answers were equal parts illuminating and shrewd.

Today, I want to tell you what I think. 

Three things. 

One, “the economy” is an abstraction that most people most of the time don’t think about, know about or care about. What they do think, know and care about is prices – the cost of stuff, especially necessities. Since the covid pandemic, the cost of groceries has been high, perhaps too high. So has the cost of housing. Combined, the experience of high prices means a lot of people think “the economy” is bad when it’s not. 

Two, the Washington press corps has made a fetish of “inflation” such that the other economic indicators – the stock market, real wages and the unemployment rate, all in record territory – are minimized while “inflation” gets top billing. This is a reflection of the interests of the very obscenely rich, who have been saying for years that a recession is around the corner on account of inflation being so high. That inflation has been easing makes no difference in improving the public’s view of the economy, because no other indicators are given equal attention.

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Trump’s literal message is America sucks. Vote for me and it won’t suck anymore. To that, Biden can pull what you might call the “good dad” card. In effect, he could respond: Actually, son, America is great. The economy may not be where it needs to be, but we’re getting there, for everyone’s sake. We can act like brats or we can man up and be who we were meant to be.

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Three, Donald Trump and the Republicans lie about “the economy.” They lie so much, and their lies are amplified so widely, that a lot of people who don’t otherwise think about, know about or care about “the economy” might believe their lies, especially given the higher than usual cost of groceries and housing. Some people might be doing great personally, in fact, but all the Republican lies – and there are so many lies – end up giving the impression that somewhere in the world, out beyond one’s personal experience, is an economy that’s in recession.

At this point in an essay like this, you’d expect me to say what I think Joe Biden and the Democrats should do to explain the real state of the economy, which is gangbusters, and to claim credit for the fact that it’s gangbusters. At this point, moreover, you might expect me to concede the challenge of doing so. How does he set people straight about the economy without insulting their experience about the economy? The more the president says the economy is great, the more chances Trump and the Republicans have to say the president is out of touch. 

I’m not going to. I think Biden can skip that by doing what he’s been doing, which is attacking Trump as if he were a brat who’s always complaining when things don’t go his way. Trump’s literal message is America sucks. Vote for me and it won’t suck anymore. To that, Biden can pull what you might call the “good dad” card. In effect, he could respond: Actually, son, America is great. The economy may not be where it needs to be, but we’re getting there, for everyone’s sake. We can act like brats or we can man up and be who we were meant to be.

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— The Editorial Board (@johnastoehr) June 18, 2024

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Josh Shapiro didn’t use those words last week, of course, but he came close. The Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, a swing state critical to Biden, was on MSNBC last week. He explained to Jen Psaki the real state of the economy. “We’re producing more energy than ever before in this nation. We have the strongest economy in the world. We’re beating China for the first time in decades. More people went to work this morning in America than at any other time in our nation’s history.”

Shapiro said the economy’s strength reflects the strength of Joe Biden’s leadership. “I know the good people of Pennsylvania,” he said. “They care a lot whether they’re in rural communities, urban communities or suburban communities, about basic things. They want good schools for their kids. They want safe communities. They want economic opportunities. And they want their freedoms to be protected.”

But instead of leadership and problem-solving, Shapiro said, all we’re hearing from Trump is “a bunch of whining about this country. I think Trump has got to quit whining … I got a message to Donald Trump and all his negativity and his whining. Stop shit-talking America.”

That’s the part that got people’s attention. A governor said “shit” on TV! It seemed appropriate, though. After all, Trump has been campaigning nonstop for nearly a decade and during all that time, his main focus has been “shit-talking America” to get people to believe that he, and only he, can make America great again. But I think it was Shapiro’s next line that should have gotten more attention. “This is the greatest country on earth,” he said, “and it’s time we all start acting like it.”

I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s “good dad” energy. Shapiro is setting people straight by modeling good behavior that everyone, including Donald Trump, can emulate if they choose to. He made the issue a question of character, of Trump’s character, rather than economics. America doesn’t suck but it could become what it was meant to be – if we all start acting like the great country that we are.

I think that’s important in communicating to people who may not know much about “the economy,” but who know a lot about the price of stuff, especially food and housing. “Good dad” energy is not only about what you say, but how you say it and how firmly it’s said. A lot of Democrats and Democratic-leaners might believe we’re in a recession, but a lot of them can be turned around with the right amount of dad power.