TRIGGERnometry · 3 min · Oct 31, 2026

Why Pakman says concrete price promises sway voters

DPDavid Pakman

David Pakman argues voters remember campaign promises they can test at the pump and grocery store more than macroeconomic indicators.

In this episode

28:36 Why Pakman expects Democrats to take the House but struggle in the Senate4 min
57:46 Why Pakman says many Americans struggle to use their health insurance8 min
24:32 Why Pakman says housing costs need more supplyPro pick 3 min
1:39Why Pakman says concrete price promises sway voters3 min
36:28 Why Pakman distinguishes investigating Fauci from prosecuting him6 min
1:24:21 Why Pakman expects Israel to be a 2028 litmus test7 min

“I think when there's really specific promises like gas will be 50 percent cheaper but it's 50 percent more expensive”

DPDavid Pakmanat 2:16 · TRIGGERnometry

Takeaways

Pakman says voters judge promises against prices they pay regularly.
He contrasts those checks with distant macroeconomic indicators.
He says tariffs and the Iran war fed into household costs.

About this segment

David Pakman argues voters remember campaign promises they can test at the pump and grocery store more than macroeconomic indicators. He says tariffs and the Iran war sharpened that disconnect.

DP

David Pakman is a left-wing political commentator and host.

Konstantin Kisin, Host · TRIGGERnometry
Francis Foster, Host · TRIGGERnometry

From “"Dems Will Win the House but Senate Is Another Story" – David Pakman”, Oct 31, 2026. Watch the full episode

Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

1:52
Presidents to start to lose ground at the midterms. How do you see it? I think it's very simple. I think I want to get back to the odds after maybe we can, though, because I take issue with some of the expectations. Maybe we'll agree on that. I don't know. But I think it's really simple. I think that when very specific promises are made during a campaign, not sort of promises that aren't salient to people, like we will reduce the deficit while it will still be positive. But people don't think about that when they go to the grocery store or to the gas pump. It's sort of like a vague thing that feels a little more distant. I think when there's really specific promises like gas will be 50 percent cheaper but it's 50 percent more expensive and every time you get gas you remember that or groceries are going to come down and then they're actually up and you
2:41
go to the grocery store and you pay more and you say i spent a hundred dollars what do i have here it's really hard to talk voters out of that and i don't think this is unique to the republicans right now this was a problem for joe biden where the biden administration was very focused on here are the macroeconomic indicators that look really good. And while that can be true, that didn't make individuals who were struggling feel like the economy was going well. This was a problem for Kamala Harris as well. They ultimately lost, of course. I think that that is the majority of what is going on. I think the failed promise on no new, endless Middle East wars is one that it's on the one hand, foreign policy is sometimes more distant from how people vote, but it's having such a direct effect on people's pocketbooks. I think it's basically that. And there isn't much
3:31
that Republicans can really run on. I mean, they can say, we've fixed inflation and everything's fixed, which is what Trump has been trying in rallies. I don't think people believe it. Even his own crowds are sort of like not really cheering for that sort of thing. And so you don't... He could run on immigration, but when people are worried about the food bill, it doesn't word. Because immigration is one era where he actually has had success according to his own metrics. By his metrics. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. So the Iran war is basically what this is all about. Well, the tariffs were a problem first of all, in terms of causing rising prices. And then