The economy continues to hum along with numbers that are arguably better than the peak of the Clinton years (i.e., more sustainable, not linked primarily to a sector-specific boom in high tech, etc), but the polls show a Republican defeat or rout in the works, which shows, if further evidence is necessary, that the economy is not the primary factor for many voters. (This was also true in 1994, when the economy, though a bit sluggish, was decent and trending upward.)
Steve is right on both points. So how to get the voters to focus more on the economy?
But everyone who has ever taken even an intro econ course knows the economy is cyclical.
The political impact of a good economy is not wholly dependent on a media-driven perception. I think what’s true is that a bad economy can drive dissatisfied voters to the polls, because they or their family members are hurting, and they think, "If I go down to the polls and vote against these incumbents then things will change and good things will happen for me and mine." What the good economic statistics tell us is that there are less of those people out there than Democrats would like.
"... but the polls show a Republican defeat or rout in the works, which shows, if further evidence is necessary, that the economy is not the primary factor for many voters."
What I think the esteemed poster meant to here is "but the media’s push-polling show a Republican defeat."
Methinks the American people can sometimes punch the wrong chad, but for them to actually turn over either house in Congress to this Democrat crowd is beyond my feeble ability to comprehend.
Besides, I can too clearly recall the same nonsense pushed by everyone from Zogby to Gallup/USA Today, claiming the same pro-Democrat election "trends" right up until Tom Daschle was seen slumped in his chair, hanging his sorry little head in his hands and muttering, "This is the worst night of my life," in 2002. Election 2006 will surely witness Pelosi and her sad little girlie men in much the same electoral despair as well.
" Steve is right on both points. So how to get the voters to focus more on the economy? "
It should be simple:
1. convince voters that one hurricane is not all that stands between the current "low" gas prices and a return to $3.50 p/gallon.
2. Convince voters that 4 weeks of good economic performance can compensate for 6 years of terrible performance.
3. Beg voters to forget that millions and millions of dollars were squandered by Republicans investigating Whitewater and Monica-gate when the Clinton Administration was trying to do ITS job.
4. Ask voters to look the other way while Republicans trample each other in their haste to disassociate themselves from Foley, Bush, Abramoff, Tom DeLay, Michael Brown, Ney, 2700 dead service-men and women, North Korea, Bin Laden still at-large, Taliban on the rebound, Abu Ghraib, Katrina, porous Mexican borders, failed education policy, NRA-sponsored school-shootings, and on and on...
5. Convince voters that Bush’s Trillion-dollar deficit is just a Clintonian surplus turned upside-down!
Wow! The "economy continues to hum along," eh? Just last night one could read here that "economic insecurity" is a current problem that might be "reversible" in the long-term. Guess it’s already been reversed!
Craig- What a buzz-kill you are!