Overview
- Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Rove said the president’s Iowa address was undercut by two errors: drifting off the economy and adopting a triumphal tone.
- He argued the off-topic detours covered grievances and foreign issues, leaving the speech unfocused and less persuasive to voters.
- Rove warned that self-congratulatory economic rhetoric risks alienating struggling Americans, likening the approach to Biden’s repeated claims that “Bidenomics is working.”
- He cited indicators to show vulnerability, including weak non-college consumer sentiment, reported blue-collar job losses, and polls showing low marks for the president on the economy and inflation.
- Rove urged Republicans to stop leaning on celebratory claims and instead sell concrete conservative reforms, pointing to the House Republican Study Committee’s agenda as a model.