Vice President JD Vance recently made a stop in the suburbs of Allentown, Pennsylvania, specifically in Alburtis, to address a gathering of approximately 500 voters, myself included. This event has already been covered by some of my colleagues at RedState.

The key takeaway from the event was encapsulated in a headline from a local Pennsylvania newspaper: “In Allentown, Vance says economy is improving, blames hardships on Biden.”

Joining the Vice President were several notable figures, including Allentown’s Republican Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07), U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Stacy Garrity, Pennsylvania’s two-term State Treasurer, who is likely to challenge Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro in the future.

During the event, the speakers addressed the steps being taken by the Trump administration, Congress, and Pennsylvania state officials to tackle the ongoing affordability crisis.

While there, I had the opportunity to meet Scott Presler, also known as “The Persistence,” who has been actively registering voters for the GOP since the Trump era.

All three discussed what the Trump administration, Congress, and Pennsylvania state officials are doing to deal with the affordability crisis.  

Of note, I ran into Scott Presler, otherwise known as “The Persistence,” who has been registering voters for the GOP during the Trump era.

Also:

• Vice President Vance’s speech may be found here.  
• Secretary Chavez-DeRemer’s speech may be found here.  
• Congressman Ryan Mackenzie’s speech may be found here.
• Some pictures of the event may be found here.  
• And a White House press release detailing the GOP record on the economy to address affordability concerns – many points of which came up in these speeches – may be found here.

“Affordability” – which encompasses the more troubling word of “inflation” – is the catchphrase on everyone’s lips these days.  Many polls show the public now blames the GOP for high inflation.  

In a prior column, I noted that Republican Tom Bevan, co-founder of RealClearPolitics, believes that inflation is the “whole ballgame” for 2026.  This view is bipartisan. Doug Schoen, a prominent Democrat consultant – but an otherwise knowledgeable and trustworthy commentator –  believes this statistic is crucial as well.