Democratic leaders fixate on Trump as voters cite pocketbook issues as top concerns

With less than a year before the 2022 midterm elections, President Biden and Democratic leaders remain fixated on former President Donald Trump as voters cite economic issues as their top concern.

According to Gallup, the economy, inflation and jobs top the list of issues most important to voters.

Inflation has reached its highest level in nearly 40 years, according to the latest data.

While voters identify economic concerns as top of mind, Democrats are reportedly considering ways to bar Trump from serving in public office again.

"I think now people are alerted to the fact that there can be rogue presidents," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday in reference to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. "Let's hope that we never elect a president who will incite an insurrection on the Congress of the United States."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the 50-50 Senate to support passage of the Democrats' proposed voting reform legislation as a way to "confront" Trump's "Big Lie" about the 2020 presidential election.

"Just as the Capitol Police have taken the experience of January 6th to institute reforms for the future, every member of the United States Senate is called on to do the same, to reckon with the lessons of that terrible day and take action to cure America of the disease of the Big Lie," Schumer said on Wednesday. 

"That means passing legislation to protect our democracy from subversion and safeguard the right to vote, including the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act," he added. "In the weeks to come, I look forward to working with all my colleagues to achieve this goal."

Earlier this week, Schumer said the Democratic caucus is "engaged" in discussions to reform the legislative rules of the Senate if the GOP uses the filibuster to block the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act from advancing in the chamber.

Democrats tried to remove Trump from office in 2020, impeaching him after his phone conversation with the Ukrainian president. Trump was acquitted in the GOP-led Senate. Democrats impeached Trump again in 2021, for incitement of an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, but he was again found not guilty in the GOP-led Senate.

President Joe Biden slammed Trump during his speech Thursday on the anniversary of the Capitol breach.

"His bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution, he can't accept he lost," Biden said. 

Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe made Trump a central part of his 2021 campaign, aiming to connect his opponent, businessman Glenn Youngkin, to the former president.

"Terry McAuliffe and the Democrats tried to run against Trump in Virginia, but their strategy backfired," Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote at the time on Twitter.

Youngkin won the election and the GOP took control of the House of Delegates. 

Some Democratic Party consultants plan to focus on Trump in political ads as the November election draws closer.

"We were alarmed by the growing conventional wisdom in our party that we should stop talking about Trump — alarmed by that and what was happening to our country," said Mandy Grunwald, a Democratic consultant who helped form a new super PAC called Stop Him Now that is aimed at helping elect Democrats in 2022 by tying Republican candidates to the former president. 

Grunwald has worked as an adviser to former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to CNN.