Economic concerns are the largest issue in virtually every American election. A political party’s economic message is therefore one of its most important components. A party needs a message that connects the needs, wants, hopes, and fears of its voters, activists, and donors with its ideology, its policy proposals, and the practical effects of those proposals. Whenever one or more of these moving pieces gets out of sync, the party risks a muddled message at best, voter rebellion at worst.
Republicans have struggled to present a coherent and compelling economic message in the years since the 2008 financial crisis. A message …