From Anxiety to Alignment: What This Week’s Data Tells Us About the Right’s Opportunity in 2026 |
While in DC last week, I gave a brief talk that the defining feature of our politics right now is not Left versus Right, but populists versus elites, and that voters were beginning to demand accountability, restraint, and competence.
This past week’s real-time sentiment data shows something important has changed.
The electorate hasn’t cooled off.
It has lined up.
Across millions of data points tracked by EyesOver between December 8 and December 15, the public mood moved from diffuse frustration to issue-level alignment, particularly on affordability, border security, and legal immigration. These are no longer abstract complaints. They are now connected in voters’ minds, and that connection strongly favors conservatives who speak to these issues heading into 2026.
To make this clearer going forward, I’m introducing three weekly measures we’ll track here every Monday.
The EyesOver Indexes
The Affordability Pressure Index (API): Measures public stress related to prices, wages, housing, and household stability.
The Sovereignty & Security Index (SSI): Tracks sentiment around border enforcement, national security, and institutional control.
The Elite Distrust Index (EDI): Captures skepticism toward corporate, media, and political elites perceived as insulated from consequences.
This week, all three moved in the same direction — upward — and that alignment is rare.
1. Affordability Is No Longer a Complaint; It’s a Framework
Last week, voters were angry about prices.
This week, they started assigning responsibility.
EyesOver recorded a sharp rise in sustained affordability discourse, especially around groceries, housing, and energy, but with a notable shift: fewer voters blamed “the economy” in the abstract. More blamed policy choices made over the last several years.
That........