Real wage growth has been negative in the US for the past decades. Stability and growth was there for us, but it wasn't there for the tens of millions in the precariate who were promised stability in the form of a substantial improvement to the welfare net and didn't get it.
From the perspective of tens, if not a hundred million, what that meant is continued decline, increased instability and broken promises, because that's the long term trend they're living and the one they were promised would continue.
Biden kicked off the biggest reindustrialization in our lifetime, and certain consumer protections were improving. Everything you want was blocked by repubs in Congress and trump appointed judges. The Dems don't pass enough policies because every time they do they get voted out by the people they're trying to help ("Obummercare").
I am well aware of the reasons why it didn't get through. The median voter doesn't. Saying you will do the same means you will do the same, ie, it will be blocked somehow.
By the way, it's not true that it was entirely stopped by Republicans - for every vote there were Democrats that went over the line, and the Democratic leadership failed to whip or primary them, which the voters rightly or wrongly will assigned the blame for the Democratic party.
Additionally, the fact that Trump appointed judges that were able to block them is in no small part thanks to the Democratic party being too ineffectual to do the same in the Obama and Biden administration.
Unless the Democrats make a point of recognizing what they could have done to play the game better and get their campaign promises through, the average voter will, rightly or wrongly, simply interpret this as the Democrats not being willing or able to follow through, and penalize them in consequence. When the Democrats willingly slow down and let internecine fights prevent themselves from helping people while the Republicans just ram their agenda through, voters will inevitably interpret this as the Democratic party making the conscious decision to break their promises, which is not entirely correct but not entirely false either.
To avoid this, Democrats would have had to be candid and say that they would likely not pass their electoral promises even if they had a majority (see: Obamacare), or somehow fix their party and get their shit together.
Please don't misunderstand me. The voters have terrible judgment and understanding of causality. And professional Dems are terrible at messaging, strategy, tactics, and execution.
Right- if the Republicans can upend the entire government without needing congress, it sure feels like they weren't trying when Biden had two years of both houses and could barely accomplish a quarter of Build Back Better.
From the perspective of tens, if not a hundred million, what that meant is continued decline, increased instability and broken promises, because that's the long term trend they're living and the one they were promised would continue.