The difference between red and blue states is a winning message for Republicans

Affordability is consistently rated voters’ number one concern in the midterms, but you don’t hear much about it from Republicans. There is good reason for this. Messaging on the economy and cost of living is tricky: The administration and this Congress have an impressive record to run on and statistics that show people are better off now than they were two years ago. However, making that case risks alienating voters who are dissatisfied with their own economic circumstances and frustrated by easily observable metrics — like the price of gas and groceries — that suggest the economy is treading water at best. Blue states show what happens when governments are free to make democratic socialist policies reality.Yet conservatives should not give up and let Democrats sell their half-baked socialist ideas as the real path to great affordability. The opposite is true. Conservatives know that those policies contributed to the economic misery of the Biden administration and that if they gain power, they will only make economic recovery harder.That’s why conservatives must first acknowledge that geopolitical energy shocks are eroding good progress on prices and then lean into showing where the cost of living in the United States remains the biggest problem and explain why.This new ad by Independent Women’s Voice and Unleash Prosperity Now does just that. It zeroes in on a chart built from data from the American Presidential Project and World Population Review, exposing the relationship between high cost of living and areas that voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. What it shows is that the higher the concentration of Harris voters, the higher the cost of living — while red areas that most supported Trump enjoy the greatest levels of affordability. Voters should recognize that those relationships aren’t an accident: States like California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts have pursued high regulation, high tax, high spending policies, and those Democratic policies make life more expensive. Of course, Americans generally are frustrated by the price of gas and blame U.S. actions in Iran. Yet federal policy and the international scene don’t explain why gas is $6.28 on average in California and just $3.84 in Texas. Nor does it explain why gas prices under Democrats when there was no war were nearly as high as they are now. Electricity prices tell a similar story, with California residents paying $27.04 per kilowatt-hour while Texans pay $9.79.Same with housing: The average California house costs a jaw-dropping $761,538 compared to $296,424 in Texas. Sure, part of that is attributable to California’s unrivaled natural beauty, but it also reflects policy decisions that have made the state uniquely and needlessly expensive. Blue states embrace restrictionist policies not just on energy, but on housing and business climates that make it more expensive for businesses to operate and citizens to live. Heavy regulations, high minimum wages, and union rules make everything cost more. RELATED: The drama doesn't end on Election Day Moor Studio/Getty ImagesBlue states tax their citizens more and have bloated government bureaucracies that discourage innovation and slow everything down. Blue states have also disproportionately tolerated fraud, crime, and illegal immigration, which burden state governments and taxpayers, as well as diminish the quality of life. That’s why affordability is such a big problem, particularly in blue states. And it’s those same policies — and worse — that Democrats running for Congress and governorships are proposing today, and which would inevitably send America in the wrong direction. In contrast, this administration and Congress have advanced policies designed to make life more affordable for everyone. Every taxpayer benefits from the provisions in the Working Families Tax Cuts that enabled people to keep more of what they earn, whether it was tips, overtime shifts, Social Security benefits, or higher child tax credits and lower overall rates. This administration has made herculean efforts to eradicate waste, not just by ending fraud but by ripping out departments, programs, and systems that made waste and fraud systemic. While Americans are just starting to see the benefits of such efforts, the media works to obscure how these reforms will pay dividends for years to come. But most voters know that these efforts are worthwhile, especially compared to how Democrats who had a choice either chose to turn a blind eye to this waste, or were themselves corrupt or incompetent.Affordability is a messaging battle the GOP should be fighting now and must continue to fight to prevent Democratic policies based on promised freebies without any sound way to pay for them or any thought to the harms they would trigger. Those promises are a gift-wrapped box filled with poisonous snakes: appealing on the outside, but dangerous once opened. Blue states show what happens when governments are free to make democratic socialist policies reality — and far from advancing affordability, it’s a road that leads to skyrocketing costs and less livable communities. The GOP should ensure voters recognize this reality. This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.