By Steven V. Roberts

Two words dominated the presidential campaign from the beginning to the end: gas and groceries.

For all the twists and turns — Joe Biden dropping out, Kamala Harris jumping in, Donald Trump getting shot — the race remained remarkably static. Inflation is always the most damaging issue because it directly affects every family every day, and the rising price of goods during the Biden administration was the single biggest reason Trump won a second term.

In exit polling, 45 percent of voters said that their personal financial fortunes were worse today than four years ago. And those voters went overwhelmingly for Trump, 80 percent to 17 percent. Two-thirds of voters described the national economy as not good or poor, and they backed the Republican by more than 2 to 1, 69 percent to 29 percent.

Harris was not just running against inflation, but against history. In the last 188 years, only one sitting vice president — George Bush 41 in 1988 — has been directly elected to the top job. That’s not a random outcome, but one that’s deeply revealing.

There are only two slogans in politics: “You never had it so good” and “It’s time for a change.” All incumbents run on the first adage, all challengers on the second. But incumbent vice presidents have to run on both at once — defending their record while promising to be different — and that’s inherently a mixed and muddled message.

That dilemma was crystalized for Harris when she was asked on ABC’s “The View” to name an instance where she differed from Biden, and she replied, “There is not a thing that comes to mind.”

Republicans were gleeful over the gift, repeating it endlessly over social media and in paid ads. Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff, wrote in The Hill: “Face it, if that’s the best you can do on that question — a question you absolutely knew had to be coming — you probably shouldn’t be president.”

Compounding Harris’ problem was the toxic hangover from COVID-19. The physical infection of the pandemic has been contained, but the spiritual infection remains resistant.

Ruling parties around the world have been victimized by this global gloom, and as Nate Cohn wrote before the election in the New York Times: “If Mr. Trump wins, this will be the likeliest explanation, rather than his own political popularity. After a period of Democratic predominance, the upheaval during and after the pandemic, along with the response, left too many voters disillusioned with Democrats, and unwilling to give the party another chance — despite their serious reservations about Mr. Trump.”

Harris tried, talking about turning pages and fresh starts, but Trump hammered home her links to the unpopular Biden, and a Times focus group of late-deciding voters graphically illuminated how badly the president weighed her down.

“I’m scared of a repeat of the last four years,” said Adam R., a 24-year-old independent from Michigan. “Donald Trump represents change. Listen to Kamala. She doesn’t disagree with anything Joe Biden’s done and implies it’s going to be more of the same.”

Higher prices and historical trends only begin to describe Trump’s appeal. He is the latest in a long line of demagogues who have cynically exploited America’s latent fear of foreigners, and his tirades have been effective, even with some recent newcomers. Of Latinos, 45 percent backed Trump, an increase of 13 points in just four years.

Trump’s blustering bravado is particularly appealing to men, and he won 54 percent of all male voters, largely neutralizing Harris’ advantage with women. As Trump explained to Semafor, “They see what I’ve done and they see strength, they want strength, OK.”

Cultural divisions also played a major role in Trump’s triumph. Democrats have a really bad habit of validating his charges that they are coastal elitists who look down on the red-hatted tribes of MAGA Nation.

Biden’s description of Trump supporters as “garbage” was only the latest example of those self-inflicted wounds.

“Donald Trump is a human algorithm, always ratcheting up antagonism,” writes Times columnist Maureen Dowd. “He’s a personification and exploiter of all the things creating anxiety in people’s lives.” Adds The Economist: “To use the language of pop psychology, Mr. Trump makes a lot of Americans feel seen. … To many Americans without a college degree, Democrats no longer talk to them but down to them.”

Democrats will now have four years to contemplate those flaws and failures. Can they learn from them?

Steven Roberts teaches politics and journalism at George Washington University. He can be contacted by email at stevecokie@gmail.com.