

I don’t think the decades-long trend is as important as:
- The real rate not meaningfully changing from 2020-2024,
- The rate still being high in absolute terms (1 in 4), and
- Democrats running as if the economy was not only doing well, but had improved significantly under Biden.
I haven’t flipped through the site a bunch, but I wonder if the higher historical rates are offset to a degree by lower costs of living in, say, 1995.
The initial statement someone gives to the press is often rehearsed, but answers to questions from the media usually aren’t. A media-trained person might come off as poised or pivoting to some talking points, but that’s very different from what appears to be a fully-scriped answer.