Making America Great Again in 2024 - A Year of Action & Optimism - Top 3 Takeaways – January 2nd, 2024
- A year of action and optimism. As we kick off 2024 this year feels different. In fact, it’s the best I’ve felt in four years. That’s because four years ago at this time the economy was humming along setting new records, as was the average American household. A combination of super low inflation, high and rising wages and record low unemployment for almost every demographic left me feeling great entering the 2020 presidential election year. Of course, it was only two months later that the pandemic found the US and everything changed...including the direction of politics in this country later that year. For each of the past three years I’ve been focused on simply trying to make the best of out of a bad situation, which granted has been easier for those of us in Florida to do. For example, in Florida, at least three years ago we weren’t threatened with losing our jobs or our businesses if we didn’t get a shot. And two years ago, we didn’t experience the technical recession that the rest of the country did, or that a year ago we were able to strengthen our state’s laws pertaining to illegal immigration as opposed to our cities being overrun with illegal immigration. All examples of Floridians making the best out of otherwise bad situations that public policy led by the Biden administration thrust onto us. And then there were those that we were unable to avoid in Florida, a la 40+ year inflation. But this year is different. This is a year where we not only have an opportunity to vote to continue working on improving our local communities, as many hold elections as early as in March, but that we truly can focus on...
- Making America Great Again, or Making America Florida, whichever you may prefer (or perhaps both – I mean after all, the Republican nominee for president is almost certainly going to be a Floridian). And importantly, unlike four years ago during the peak of the pandemic, Americans have their eyes open to the political realities before them with even the youngest voters now keenly aware of the impact voting decisions have on their lives. Consider this... Joe Biden has the lowest approval rating entering his reelection year of any president in history at 39%. To put that in perspective, it’s six points lower than President Trump’s approval rating at the same stage of his presidency. And with historically low approval ratings come historical opportunities. My final message of 2023 (prior to going on vacation), was that it appeared as though generational political change was here. Just as Jimmy Carter’s failures presented Ronald Reagan with an opportunity to reshape American politics – which he did in creating a generation of mostly conservative voters – GenX, Joe Biden’s failures as president have created the same opportunity today. As I noted in my final show of 2023... Florida, given its demographics which most closely reflect the melting pot that is this country, has been on the leading edge of this political shift. Many have suggested that young leftists don’t approve of Joe Biden but most commonly because somehow or another he just isn’t Marxist enough for them. While that might be the case with a smattering of young voters – it certainly isn’t the case for many others. We’ve seen this show up in Florida’s voter registration trends. Not only have Republicans made historic gains in voter registrations in Florida in recent years, in turning the state from the ultimate swing state into a likely red state, here the most dramatic change from tells the rest of the story. In 2020 in Florida, 40% of voters between the ages of 18-34 were registered Democrats with only 25% who were registered Republicans (the balanced of which were registered NPAs). What’s happened since? 27% of voters between the ages of 18-34 have registered as Republicans with only 26% who’ve registered as Democrats (with the balanced registering as NPA’s). It’s the first time in Florida’s history that the youngest voters have been more likely to register as Republicans than Democrats. And that’s a far larger shift than with any other age group. The trend was central to the record Republican wins in Florida in 2022, and actually is larger than even the shift towards the right by Hispanic/Latino voters in the state as well (which is another powerful trend). And what’s changed since then? Nationally Fox News’ most recent polling showed Trump leading Biden by 13-points in a hypothetical rematch with voters under 30.
- That’s a swing of almost 40-points from the 2020 election. Not a swing of 4-points – 40-points! While it remains just a snapshot in time about 11 months before an election, it’s further evidence that many, if not most, younger adults aren’t looking for even more Marxism. We have record voter registration trends and record polling trends which are pointing in the same direction. The youngest voters, which until somewhat recently appeared as though they might be the hardest left generation of voters the country has seen, appear to be course correcting politically. They’re looking for freedom. Financial and otherwise. A second coming of the Reagan revolution has quietly been playing out in Florida. The opportunity exists to do the same nationally as well with young voters across the country who are the most displeased with President Biden of any demographic group. And yes, as we’ve already seen, the former and perhaps future President of the United States can carry the Reagan torch – having been the most effective president this country had since Ronald Reagan. Yes, some of the youngest voters are unhappy with Biden because he’s not “leftist” enough for them, however Florida’s example suggests there are far more that are simply looking for good leadership that leads to better results for them. That’s where generational opportunity exists and perhaps has never been greater in modern political history. It’s most likely that a Floridian will not only be the Republican nominee for president, but that a Floridian will have the opportunity to Make America Great Again and/or to Make America Florida, starting in January of 2025. 2023’s off election year brought about as much subtle change in the electorate as I’ve studied during the course of my 25+ year career. I’m optimistic about what the future holds. This year will be the most important and pivotal new year of our lives. Despite all of the adversity freedom has faced and currently faces... We’re well positioned for it. For four years we’ve been faced with endless adversity. There’s no doubt that there will be plenty more for us to contend with throughout this one. But what’s different is that 2024 is a year of action and an opportunity for a historic remake of American politics with the potential to reenter a period of relative peace through strength and record economic success.