If I had a nickel for everytime I heard, “Trump was better for the economy,” I would be able to fix the economy.
The truth is, no president makes or breaks the economy, or basically any other aspect of the country for that matter. They just seem to get praised if things are good, and blamed if things are bad.
When it comes to the economy specifically, the president can make policies that contribute to it. But overall, it’s a mix of factors including global and congressional decisions. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic played a huge role, but no one could control that.
One of the key points in a Republican argument regarding the presidential race is that the economy was better under former President Trump. Gross domestic product grew under both President Joe Biden and former President Trump, but more so under Biden. They both did better and worse than each other in aspects like the job market, inflation and gas prices.
In reality, presidents don’t have direct control over any of that. Gas prices are controlled by global supply and demand. If we want lower gas prices, we need a combination of policy and lawmakers. This includes all three branches of government.
Abortion and reproductive rights are a major topic in this election. Candidates claim that they’ll either make reproductive healthcare illegal or totally accessible. Well, as we saw with the overturn of Roe v. Wade, it’s not totally up to them.
Public opinion is far more powerful than voters give it credit for. As president, he or she works for us, the people.
Especially during social movements, policies and decisions are often made because of public opinion. If a government is a good one, they will listen to the public’s needs based purely off of who they’re representing. Most of the time though, it’s because leaders want to be reelected. The best way to ensure that you won’t get reelected is if you blatantly ignore the public’s needs.
Separation of powers, is quite literally what it sounds like: the separation of the powers in the government. Meaning, the executive branch has separate powers than the other branches, but if they want to get something done, they need to work together.
With all of these promises about policies that the candidates can’t keep, voters lose trust and end up disappointed.
This emphasizes why it’s important to vote in non-presidential elections. Every election counts because they all add up to an overall goal. If you vote for the people who can do their part to make that goal happen, it just might. But having representatives fight with the president on issues isn’t going to solve anything, and if it does, it’ll take a while.
It’s not just on us. Although presidential candidates have a race to win, they should be honest. To keep expectations realistic, when addressing voters they should say, “The president only has so much control, we need to look to congress or the supreme court for…” and then list what they can and can’t realistically do.
We need to stop overestimating the president and underestimating other government leaders and ourselves.
