Kamala Harris is making one thing clear: She believes an economically anxious electorate will respond well to promises of new cash for homeowners and parents, lower food prices and student loan forgiveness.

It’s a clever political play, with economic well-being continuing to rank as voters’ most important issue amid indicators of a shaky economy. While economists slammed parts of her plan as unaffordable and reminiscent of U.S.S.R.-style communism, voters who say the country is worse off than it was in 2020 may be desperate enough to take Harris at her word.

It’s hard to develop political messaging that counters “we will give you free stuff.”

However, Republicans have powerful tools at their disposal to counter her message: Economic reality, stories of tremendous suffering under price controls and the anchor of incumbency that will ultimately make it hard for Harris to distance herself entirely from the current economic anxiety. 

Donald Trump may lack message discipline, but he understands what he needs to do on some level. Within days of Harris’ proposals going public, he harkened back to the miserable era of Soviet-era Russia with a new “Comrade Kamala” nickname. He has further compared her with socialist dictators like Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, whose years of price controls and other socialist policies have led to extreme hunger, an exodus of more than 7 million people, and more than a decade of shortages of items like milk, coffee and toilet paper.

However, nicknames can go only so far in an insult-laden presidential election. The next step must be to bring real faces and names into the political conversation.

For example, Evgeny Lebedev is a British House of Lords member who grew up in an elite family in Moscow. He tells stories of waiting for hours for basic groceries and having a family car that constantly broke down, leaving his family stranded. And he was a rich kid!

A new publication by the Adam Smith Institute paints a sad picture indeed. While Lebedev’s father could buy only a junk car, at least he eventually got one. Despite huge industrial output, the U.S.S.R. had only one car for every 51 people. By comparison, the United States had one car for every 2.5 people during that period. 

Even worse, life expectancy fell in the Soviet Union during the 1960s and 1970s — despite having the highest physician-to-patient ratio in the world.

That was 50 years ago and halfway across the world, right? Well, closer to home is the communist regime, 90 miles off Florida’s shore. Ruhama Fernandez, a Cuban activist detained in 2021, says her native country went from being one of the richest countries in Latin America to one of the poorest and suffers widespread food shortages. It also suffers severe medical shortages — doctors are paid $64 a month. They often are forced to practice overseas to make ends meet.

Revisiting Venezuela, don’t forget that price controls were imposed in 2003 when oil prices were high. Things seemed good for a while … until they weren’t. Now, there are 7 million faces and names to put in front of the American people.

The final tool in the messaging toolbox is a reminder that Harris is no political newcomer or an insurgent candidate who lacks government power. By virtue of her role as vice president, she bears some responsibility for Americans’ suffering.

Inflation hit a 40-year high on her watch, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently issued its annual revision to the monthly jobs report, and it wasn’t good, with the biggest revision since 2009 erasing 810,000 jobs — almost all the job growth since 2021 that wasn’t the expected post-pandemic bounceback.

Again, it’s tough trying to counter “free stuff.” If you’re explaining, you’re losing, especially when struggling Americans think there’s a solution right in front of them. That’s why Republicans can’t tell — they have to show. 

Kelly Ferguson is the director of public affairs at Proven Media Solutions, a public relations firm. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.