CNN carnival barker Jim Acosta decided to have a little powwow with longtime Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg while filling as host of Monday’s Inside Politics. While Acosta was desperately trying to hang on to the White House’s false talking point that the economy was all sunshine and roses ahead of an election year, Greenberg told him he needed to “get out of the bubble” and actually meet Americans where they were and match their sour mood about the state of the economy.
Flaunting how detached he was from the reality that many Americans were experiencing as people not as well off as he was, Acosta claimed “inflation is cooling” and used the “the Washington, D.C. area” as his barometer. “I suspect it fluctuates depending on where you are around the country, but generally coming down,” he proclaimed.
Greenberg immediately called out Acosta’s position as being inside “a bubble” and explained that his decades of polling work had taught him that “what matters is how many months people have been struggling to deal with inflation. And each month they get madder and madder about it as long as their wages are trailing prices.”
“They’re grumpy right now,” Acosta quipped about the American mood. Greenberg shot back, telling Acosta to “get out of the bubble” because inflation was up “three percent higher than it was when Biden came in. In the last six months, there has been a decline in disposable income.”
Keeping the Democratic strategy session rolling, Greenberg argued that what the White House needed to do was to stop insisting the country was making progress and just deal with inflation:
So, the context is you have to start there. Inflation is like 30 points higher than the next problem. And you can’t – you know, what the President is currently doing is his tweets always start with ‘we’re making progress’ and then he mentions the prices.
If you look at it as aimed at black voters it’s mainly trying to them they’re doing a good job. But that’s not where they are. They are losing ground every month and angry about it. But have to stop, you have to say what's the main problem? How do you deal with the first problem which is inflation and the cost of living?
That seemed to be a point Acosta wanted driven home because he proceeded to read from a Washington Post report about an irritated Biden pressuring his staff to improve his poll numbers, and teed Greenberg up to reiterate his argument:
ACOSTA: What are they doing about it? What should they be doing about it?
GREENBERG: Well, what they’re currently doing, what the President is currently doing is still talking about progress and you can’t talk about progress when three-quarters of the country think we’re on the wrong track. So, you have to stop on the notion that we’re making progress. You have to get where people are. And where they are is on the rising prices.
CNN doesn’t really like having these kinds of campaign strategy sessions with Republicans because they would prefer no Republicans ever get elected, even the moderate ones.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Inside Politics
December 18, 2023
12:36 p.m. Eastern(…)
JIM ACOSTA: So, the immigration issue is a real thing. The question I have though is – is – inflation is cooling. I mean, if you look at gas prices, they’re going down. They’re around three buck a gallon, in the Washington, D.C. area, Maryland or Virginia. I suspect it fluctuates depending on where you are around the country, but generally coming down. People aren’t feeling that enough just yet.
STANLEY GREENBERG: It’s a bubble. It’s a bubble. Look, what I have discovered from doing my polling in Europe and the UK and here, what matters is how many months people have been struggling to deal with inflation. And each month they get madder and madder about it as long as their wages are trailing prices. So –
ACOSTA: They’re grumpy right now.
GREENBERG: They’re still three – Look. Get out of the bubble. It’s three percent higher than it was when Biden came in. In the last six months, there has been a decline in disposable income. So, the context is you have to start there. Inflation is like 30 points higher than the next problem.
And you can’t – you know, what the President is currently doing is his tweets always start with ‘we’re making progress’ and then he mentions the prices.
If you look at it as aimed at black voters it’s mainly trying to them they’re doing a good job. But that’s not where they are. They are losing ground every month and angry about it. But have to stop, you have to say what's the main problem? How do you deal with the first problem which is inflation and the cost of living?
ACOSTA: Stan, The Washington Post has some new reporting out today about a meeting President Biden held with his staff about his poll numbers. And it says, in part, “After pardoning a pair of Turkeys, an annual White House tradition, Biden delivered some stern words for the small group assembled: His poll numbers were unacceptably low, he wanted to know what his team in his campaign were doing about it.”
What are they doing about it? What should they be doing about it?
GREENBERG: Well, what they’re currently doing, what the President is currently doing is still talking about progress and you can’t talk about progress when three quarters of the country think we’re on the wrong track. So, you have to stop on the notion that we’re making progress. You have to get where people are. And where they are is on the raising prices.
They need to stop with their own voters and say, “We get it. If inflation is the biggest problem. We get it. We know what you’ve been though. We’re in touch with that. Here's what we are dealing with: we are going to do a child tax credit, we’re going to cut drug prices, we’re going to lower healthcare costs, and we’re going to go after big companies that aren’t paying any taxes, we’re going to go after profiteering, we’re going to shift power from work – to get workers, and focus again on the needs of working people.
(…)
