By ZEKE MILLER and SEUNG MIN KIM (Associated Press)
HOUSTON (AP) — “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Rarely have voters’ answers to that question been so complicated.
Former President Donald Trump asked the time-tested question of his supporters in all-caps Monday on his Truth Social platform. President Joe Biden did the same three times over this week during a trio of Texas fundraisers as he closed out a swing through the southwest.
Each candidate is hoping the answer skews in his favor — but the verdict may well hinge on whether people are reflecting back on the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of their pocketbooks or some broader sense of well-being.
Four years ago, the country was in the throes of a nationwide shutdown due to the coronavirus, with surging joblessness and a cratering stock market. Now the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees are hurtling toward a rematch in which the virus for most Americans is but a traumatic memory, markets are up and unemployment is at or near record lows.
If the handling of the once-in-a-century outbreak defined the 2020 presidential race, it appears that voters have other things on their minds as they consider their choices in 2024.
“Speaking of Donald Trump, just a few days ago, he asked the famous question at one of his rallies: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Biden told donors this week. “Well Donald, I’m glad you asked that question, man, because I hope everyone in the country takes a moment to think back when it was like in March of 2020.”
From there, Biden plunged into a recitation of dark moments from the early days of the pandemic, when hospital emergency rooms were overcrowded, first responders were risking their lives to care for the sick and some nurses resorted to wearing trash bags due to the scarcity of personal protective equipment.
Trump, for his part, tosses out a wider net in reflecting on the American…
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