The Rising Prevalence of Affordability as a Voting Issue

October 21st, 2025
David Hain

A hallmark of Donald Trump’s second term has been market volatility. As the political landscape of the United States has grown more uncertain, foreign and domestic investors have become hesitant to hold stocks and trade with the private sector; when Trump merely threatened to unleash global tariffs, the CBOE Volatility Index had driven up over 12%. The prices of goods, both foreign and domestic, have been on the incline, leaving speculators further confused.

This market volatility has also reflected itself in consumer spending: since July, inflation has been increasing at an unusually rapid pace, driving up the price of healthcare, food and other necessities. People have become increasingly perturbed by these price increases, raising concerns about the US economy. Consequently, not only has the stagnation of America’s GDP growth become a prevalent social issue, it’s become a critical voter issue.

So, what have politicians been doing to solve the disparity?

On the left side of the political spectrum, Democrats have made the issue of affordability a fulcrum of their party’s appeal, to varying degrees of success. New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has based his Democrat-Socialist platform off of a wealth tax, intended on decreasing the costs of necessities; aspiring candidate for Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger intends on drafting price transparency laws and cracking down on pharmacy benefit managers to lower drug prices; and New Jersey’s trailblazing left-wing governor candidate, Mikie Sherill, intends on providing tax cuts for small businesses to decrease price gouging by monopolies.

All three of these candidates have proposed their unique solutions to a common problem the American populace faces. Democrats have realized that their primary appeal—an appeal to humanism and the common man—relies on understanding how the average American is struggling with inflation. Thus, members of the party are rushing to find their own solution to the ubiquity of poor affordability. As different forms of leftist ideology are being introduced as genuine competitors in American politics, like that of Zohran Mamdani’s socialist platform, these solutions have diversified, and will continue to diversify. But every solution will revolve around diminishing the price of basic necessities.

On the right side of the political spectrum, Republicans have been caught between prioritizing affordability and prioritizing other right-leaning social issues, like that of immigration. The recent government shutdown—now going three weeks strong—has highlighted the critical need for affordable health insurance, as medical services on a governmental level have suffered. The announcement of Social Security’s cost-of-living report has been delayed, raising concerns for senior citizens. Additionally, the incumbent expiration of the Affordable Care Act has put pressure on the GOP, as the shadow of Obamacare eclipses their own desire to service tax cuts for Big Pharma.

A large part of the Democrats’ political weaponization of affordability has been to underscore the lapse of republican accountability in the world of the common man’s fiscal concerns. A Pro-Trump agenda—one that has compromised over $1 trillion dollars worth of medical services—hasn’t left much room for advocating for policies like antitrust laws or drug price caps. As the government shutdown continues, the increasing priority of legislation promoting affordability has left right-wing politicians begging one question: What next?

Regardless of whatever solution both political parties opt for, millions of Americans are asking for immediate action. The increased cost of groceries have further deprecated the standard of living of already marginalized Americans; a lack of legislative action results in impoverished Americans having to skip meals. If the government shutdown continues impeded, citizens of rural and impoverished Americans will continue to struggle, with necessities like food and medicine becoming more and more exorbitant.