How Republicans and Democrats paint starkly different pictures of America

Democrats and Republicans aren’t just presenting starkly different visions for the country’s future — they offer wildly different depictions of what America looks like today.

Republicans paint a picture of families that are being crushed by inflation, fearful of crime and at risk from threatening foreign adversaries. Democrats say those challenges are overstated — and in any case, ones they are fixing — and that the real threat lies in what a Republican administration might do to Americans’ rights and the rule of law.

The dueling narratives are core to the new campaign strategies of the scrambled presidential race. Former President Donald Trump is selling himself as the strongman savior whom voters can trust to attack the existential dangers of the moment. Vice President Kamala Harris is emphasizing continuity with the current administration and its achievements, which she says she can build upon.

To better understand those narratives, POLITICO analyzed the speeches given during the Democratic and Republican conventions, the multiday spectacles that kick off the final stretch of the election.

Over the course of more than 24 hours of speeches, speakers hit on some common themes: The economy, immigration, crime and international conflicts were among the most-talked about issues at both. But while Republicans said inflation was out of control, Democrats said it was going down. Republicans said U.S. weakness had driven foreign conflicts; Democrats said America’s alliances were stronger than ever. Republicans said cities were bastions of crime and chaos; Democrats said crime has dropped and they would keep fighting it.

Here’s how both sides are selling those messages.

Republicans say inflation is crushing Americans. Democrats say it’s going down — but talk about addressing affordability.

“We’ve gone from economic crisis to the strongest economy in the entire world: A record 16 million new jobs, record small-business growth, record high stock market, record-high 401Ks, wages up, and inflation down — way down — and continuing to go down.”

— President Joe Biden

“We have an inflation crisis that is making life unaffordable, ravaging the incomes of working and low-income families, and crushing, just simply crushing our people like never before.”

— Former President Donald Trump

Inflation has been at the core of Republican messaging over the past few years as polls have repeatedly shown voters frustrated with high prices. And the facts around it provide the backdrop for both parties to paint their own picture: High inflation early in Biden’s term has led to sticker shock. But inflation has slowed substantially since then.

Republicans especially homed in on everyday costs that affect broad swaths of Americans, with Republican National Convention speakers mentioning gas and grocery prices roughly two dozen times.

Trump brought up inflation more than a dozen times in his convention speech, lamenting that “inflation has wiped out the life savings of our citizens, and forced the middle class into a state of depression and despair.” He promised to cut spending that he blamed for fueling the crisis, declaring that “inflation will vanish completely” under a Trump presidency.

Democrats, by contrast, used the term “inflation” sparingly, and when they did mention it, it was largely to describe it as declining.

But they seemed to acknowledge the political challenge it poses, including laying blame on corporate greed and price gouging. Democrats also discussed plans to address affordability across a range of common issues, including housing, health care and childcare.

Democrats are border hawks too now, but Republicans went all-in.

“It’s a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land.”

— Former President Donald Trump

“I know the importance of safety and security, especially at our border. Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades. The Border Patrol endorsed it. But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign.”

— Vice President Kamala Harris

Democrats have been playing defense on the issue of border security. But they were eager to highlight their credentials, in a significant shift from how the party has discussed immigration in the past.

Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto spoke about Harris’ time as attorney general, and her work to “protect the southern border” by putting “transnational criminals and drug smugglers behind bars.” Harris herself also sought to shore up her credentials while going after Trump for his efforts that killed a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year.

Both that bill and Democrats’ rhetoric reflect a significant shift in how the party has approached immigration, including a heightened focus on border security. Four years ago, backlash to Trump’s aggressive immigration restrictions drove the party to push for more welcoming policies. But public sentiment has shifted markedly following a surge in migrants seeking asylum and entering the country over the last few years.

Republicans have sought to capitalize on the changes in public opinion. The term “border” was mentioned more than 100 times at the RNC where speakers repeatedly called Harris the “border czar.”

In their telling, the flow of migrants seeking asylum at the southern border is an “invasion” of criminals and poverty that threatens communities across the U.S. Trump, in his address, even declared it the “greatest invasion in history.”

And while Democrats are now more hawkish than before in backing border security measures and aiming to reduce asylum claims, Republicans still went further, pushing for what Trump described as “the largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”

Republicans emphasize crime. Democrats emphasize that it’s going down.

“Crime terrorizes our cities and our suburbs. As far-left policies handcuff police. … To commuters often petrified to take a bus, take a train, or walk the streets in cities across our nation: I’m sorry. That man right there will fix this.”

— Eric Trump

“Donald Trump rants about law and order as if he wasn’t a convicted criminal running against a prosecutor, as if we were going to forget that crime was higher on his watch.”

— Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

Republicans leaned heavily into the issue of crime — and repeatedly sought to portray major U.S. cities as places of disorder.

Trump himself suggested that, if he is not elected this year, the next Republican convention might have to be held in Venezuela, because American cities “will be so unsafe” that hosting an event in the U.S. would be untenable.

Rates of violent crime spiked in 2020 and have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to federal data. But polls have found concern about crime has still ticked upward and is higher among Republicans.

Democrats sought to highlight the statistics, with Biden noting “violent crime has dropped to the lowest level in more than 50 years.” And they argued the drop had to do with investments in police, seeking to neutralize the “defund the police” policy arguments that have plagued the party politically since 2020.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, touted how he “invested in fighting crime” in his home state. And Harris spoke of her own background as a prosecutor, and how she was driven to that career path by a desire to defend victims of crime. And she’s sought to draw contrast with Trump in part by citing his criminal record.

Republicans hammered dangers from foreign adversaries. Democrats acknowledged them — but touted alliances.

“They’ve made us less safe and secure internationally with their incompetent withdrawal from Afghanistan. Our adversaries moved: Putin on Ukraine, Iran through their proxies, Hamas on Israel, and China, getting more aggressive every day.”

— GOP Wisconsin Senate candidate Eric Hovde

“I will make sure that we lead the world into the future on space and artificial intelligence. That America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century and that we strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership. Trump, on the other hand, threatened to abandon NATO.”

— Vice President Kamala Harris

Republicans repeatedly sought to portray a world that has become less safe during — and because of — Biden’s presidency, with dozens of speakers mentioning threats from Iran and China.

Democrats also mentioned Iran and China. But they talked about foreign rivals more in terms of competition than catastrophe. And they argued that Trump, not the status quo, is the real danger when it comes to foreign adversaries. Democrats repeatedly cited his past comments about Russian leader Vladamir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and they invoked the NATO alliance far more often than Republicans did.

One area several Democratic and Republican speakers had in common: support for Israel. Members of both parties spoke about Israel having a right to defend itself and condemning atrocities committed by Hamas.

But there were also telling differences: Several Democrats touched on the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and called for a cease-fire, while Republicans focused on ensuring Israel’s lethality and its ability to destroy its adversaries.

Democrats went all-in on abortion. Republicans didn’t talk about it.

“If they win, Republicans will not stop at banning abortion and they will come for IVF next, and they’ll prosecute doctors and they will shame and spy on women.”

— Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

Abortion has been a clear winning issue for Democrats since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, and it was among the most-talked about issues at their convention — in sharp contrast to Republicans.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) spoke about Florida’s 6-week abortion ban, saying it “endangers women’s health.” Several women spoke from the convention stage about undergoing an abortion — or being denied one. Harris went after Trump on the issue too, saying he would “limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban, with or without Congress.”

Trump has denied that he would enact a national abortion ban when asked by reporters, and his allies shaped the Republican Party’s platform to mirror his stance that the issue should be left up to the states. Since the convention, he has gone further in publicly supporting IVF.

But at the convention, he and other Republicans sought to ignore the issue almost entirely — reflecting in part how Trump’s stance no longer energizes the party’s anti-abortion base.

The word “abortion” was never uttered from the stage at the RNC. And it was only alluded to by a few speakers: Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway cited “protecting life” as one of the accomplishments of his administration. Rev. Franklin Graham thanked Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, for his “strong stand for defending life.”

For Republicans, it was a notable shift from 2020, when Trump declared in his convention speech that “all children, born and unborn, have a God-given right to life.” But the politics of abortion have changed substantially since then — and the absence of the issue at the RNC reflected that.