Is Obama Better Off Than He Was Four Years Ago?

I spent this holiday weekend camping and hiking in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit. When I powered up my laptop this evening, I was interested to see what might have changed in three days. The answer is: not much. Romney and Obama are tied for the first time in a while in the RCP average. That is mostly on the strength of the Rasmussen poll, which gives Romney a four point advantage. Gallup continues to hold stable, with a one point advantage for Obama. It doesn't look like the Republicans got any bounce out of their convention.

Can the Democrats get a bounce? I don't know, but the current currents don't seem favorable. Here's The Politico:

Delegates at the Democratic National Convention here are the truest of true believers, decked out in red, white and blue "Obama '12" buttons and energized for the fall campaign.

But even they are echoing the question Mitt Romney and the Republicans posed at their convention: Are Americans better off than they were four years ago?

These delegates are worried about the still-sluggish state of the economy and want to know what President Barack Obama is going to do about it in a second term.

The "are you better off than four years ago" is a very unfortunate meme to have buzzing around the Obama campaign. If you don't believe me, ask Governor O'Malley. From the National Journal:

A day after saying, no, the country was not better off than it was four years ago, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley reversed course on Monday and said, yes, indeed it was.

Obviously, the general situation of American is not better after four years of Barack Obama in the White House. See Forbes. While Obama has spent much of that time blaming Bush, the next President will have no one to blame but Obama.

The problem Obama now has is this: his faithful want him to explain how he will right the ship over the next four years. So far, this has been something of a mystery. Either he has a good answer or not. If not, then the best he can offer is four more years of the same. If he does have an answer, then the obvious question is why he didn't figure it out, say, two or three years ago.

Mr. Obama is obviously hoping for a change in economic trends after he is safely reelected. That's what I would be hoping for if I were on his staff. That doesn't leave him much to run on now.

Comments

[Donald Pay]

And where have the Republicans been these last four years? Oh, obstructing change that would improve economic conditions. So, the fact that we are left with mostly Bush economic policies can mostly be attributed to whom?

Obama has made mistakes. Not prosecuting the Wall Street crooks sent a message that if you're rich and powerful enough you don't have to worry about paying for your crimes. I would say Obama made a huge mistake in going along with the Bush tax cuts. He should have simply let them all expire, and put tax reform on the table as an issue for the Republicans to hem and haw about. He should made a quicker exit from Bush's wars.

But let's not kid ourselves. This is a long-term problem. We're in year 33 of being off course economically. The Reagan Revolution was an economic disaster that has been compounding through the years. Only when we got rid of some of Reagan's tax nonsense during the Clinton years did we have economic growth and fiscal sanity.

[Bill Fleming]

Four years ago Obama believed the GOP might come to their senses and work with him to bury the hatchet and help clean up the mess. Now he knows better. If the GOP has been successful in perpetuating just enough misery and doubt, and in disenfranchising enough of those who would vote against fhem... If they spend enough money, tell enough lies, and breed enough hatred and xenophoia and despair, they might prevail. But what a disgusting way to win.

Are we better of now than we were four years ago? Of course we are. It's a stupid question. Too bad a couple of stupid people on Obama's staff tried to answer it by trying to tell the truth. Turns out very few are interested in the truth any more.

[Ken Blanchard]

Bill: the Obama campaign has been relentlessly lying. Don't pretend that you object to lying or care about the truth.

[Jon S]

A couple points. Bill, when Republicans came to Obama with ideas for a stimulus bill, why did Obama famously say, "I won" and then show them the door? If he had the most partisan voting record in the Senate, why did we expect he'd magically become bipartisan when president? Besides, we have it from good sources, namely David Brooks and Ryan Lizza, that Obama takes it personally if anyone has the termerity to disagree with him.

To both Bill and Donald's point. Unemployment is higher now than when Obama took office. The debt has gone up $5 trillion since Obama got inaugurated. Average household income is down under Obama. Gas prices have doubled under Obama. These are facts, not opinion. What is opinion is to the extent Obama is responsible for these numbers. It is not crazy or "stupid" to say we are worse off and it is Obama's fault. Does anyone think if the economic situation were the exact same today under President McCain that Bill would say this is such a stupid question.

By the way, it is good to have Donald on record has favoring a sizable tax increase on the poor and middle class.

[Bill Fleming]

I'm not going to play that game with you two, Ken and Jon. Both of you know better. If you're comfortable with the way your party is behaving, go for it. Personally I would be deeply concerned and embarrassed were I you. I've never seen anything quite like it, and I've see a lot.

[Donald Pay]

Exactly, Bill. These are people who should know better, but who persist in feigned ignorance and outright lying for political reasons. The people who blindly follow Ken and Jon's political ideology created the mess, then screamed and obstructed when Obama tried to clean it up. You guys are so far out to sea it's easy to see why you've climbed aboard the "Cracker Bay."

[Ken Blanchard]

In other words, Bill, you see only the sins of the other side. Your only option is to fold your arms and look righteous, that, or choose Donald's favorite evasion of blaming everything bad that happened under Obama on someone else.

For two years the Democrats enjoyed control over both houses of Congress with a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. So what went wrong? Republican obstructionism! I would indeed be embarrassed were I reduced to such arguments.

[Matty Poo]

Bill Fleming, you're a piece of shit and an idiot.

[Bill Fleming]

http://m.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/paul-ryan-and-the-post-truth-convention-speech/261775/

I understand that you don't like dealing with the truth, KB. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be told.

[Bill Fleming]

Matty Poo? Now that's funny.

[Donald Pay]

So far I haven't heard from you anything bad that happened under Obama. You say the "general situation of American (sic) is not better after four years of Barack Obama in the White House." Is there is some guy named General Situation, because you aren't making any sense at all? Maybe you could be more specific about your criticism. I have been more specific with my criticism of Obama than you have, but I live in reality, and you are off somewhere with General Situation. I won't ask, and I won't tell.

There is a drought in a large part of the country. Did you know there are Republican crazies who are blaming that on Obama. They say he is sending planes up a spraying chemicals and it's causing the lack of rain. Maybe you should confer with General Situation about that.

[Ivan]

So according to Fleming the Dems did'nt have a majority in both the senate and the house during Obama's first two years. KB, who would have thought you were so uninformed?

[arritoubfub]

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