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Donald Trump was a little cranky back in January when he traveled to Iowa to kick off the midterm year, only months after his party took a beating at the ballot box in Virginia and New Jersey. “People forget, so they say, ‘Ohhh, affordability, let’s vote for the Democrats,’” he told a crowd in Clive. “No, they caused the problem.” At the time, White House officials were struggling to get the president to refocus his messaging on the issue that voters cared about most: the cost of living. Trump, naturally, preferred to talk about anything else: stolen elections, ballroom plans, transgender athletes, autopens, whatever.
