With 100 days until the midterms, one thing has become surprisingly clear.Democrats know exactly what election they want to run.Republicans still don’t.100 DAY SPRINT TO THE MIDTERMS KICKS OFF AS REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS CLASH FOR CONTROL ACROSS THE COUNTRYI’m not talking about policy.Republicans have plenty of issues that resonate with voters.A grocery store stands along a street in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 13, 2026.
The Urban Institute released new data that found more Americans are using credit cards and other means to cover grocery bills as food prices continue to rise, along with other necessities.(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)I’m talking about something much simpler.The story.LIZ PEEK: DEMOCRATS’ AFFORDABILITY SCAM COLLAPSES IN STATES THEY ACTUALLY RUNAfter three decades studying how people make decisions, I’ve learned that people don’t vote issue by issue.
They don’t carry around a mental spreadsheet comparing tax policy, border security, energy production and education reform.They simplify.They look for one idea that helps them make sense of everything else.THE AMERICAN DREAM NOW COMES WITH A ZIP CODE: HERE'S WHERE STARTER HOMES ARE STILL WITHIN REACHThat’s what Democrats have done.They’ve taken a complicated election and reduced it to one word:Affordability.After three decades studying how people make decisions, I’ve learned that people don’t vote issue by issue.They don’t carry around a mental spreadsheet comparing tax policy, border security, energy production and education reform.
They simplify.Whether or not you agree with their solutions isn’t the point.From a communications perspective, they’ve done something incredibly powerful: they’ve given voters a lens.Every new headline about rising costs reinforces the same story.That’s what great messaging does.
It doesn’t just communicate.It organizes.Republicans, meanwhile, have no shortage of winning issues.Immigration.Those are all important conversations.
Many poll ext...