“The problem is that that doesn’t coalesce into one sort of cohesive argument necessarily, and voters over the past few years, especially, are pretty used to having more gimmicky pitches about affordability, right? Do you remember ‘shrinkflation’ under [former President Joe] Biden, when they talked about how there were less chips in your bag?” Bedford said on The Hugh Hewitt Show.

“So the conversation doesn’t look and feel like the one that you had a lot of politicians in recent years had about the cost of living, and the risk for Republicans is that they’re sort of spread out across too many arenas and maybe not focusing enough on one affordability issue,” Bedford said.

Bedford stated that there are aspects of the cost of living going down under Trump’s watch, pointing to the cost of gas as being “far lower.” While gas has gone down, she also pointed out that grocery prices haven’t changed yet, and that Trump hasn’t been addressing the issue until recently.

“So perhaps it’s not going to be too little, too late. We’re still a year out from the midterms, but it’s definitely something that’s still top of mind for most people,” Bedford said.

NDAA PASSES HOUSE AFTER JOHNSON HAS TO ENDURE HOURS OF GOP DRAMA YET AGAIN

Trump pitched affordability to Pennsylvania supporters at a rally on Tuesday, where he claimed Democrats talking about affordability “is like Bonnie and Clyde preaching about public safety.” White House officials argued that Trump‘s affordability push is not a reaction to November’s results, when the Democratic Party performed well in many elections.

Democrats are entering the 2026 election cycle with confidence after a series of special elections this month, including the election of Democratic candidate Elieen Higgins as mayor of Miami. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee responded to the results by announcing plans to expand its 2026 target map to include “new flip” opportunities nationwide.