2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWhy a President Romney would have Obama to thank for an economic recovery
By Greg Ip, Published: October 5
Cast your mind forward to October 2014. The economic rebound for which Barack Obama had worked so hard and hoped so long is finally underway: Growth is humming, unemployment is steadily dropping, and the stock market is hitting one record high after another. But unfortunately for Obama, hes not in the White House anymore and President Mitt Romney is the man whose approval ratings are being carried aloft by the Dow.
Romney is widely considered to have won Wednesday nights presidential debate by attacking Obamas economic record and promising, if elected, to restore job growth and middle-class incomes. The irony is that, if Romney wins the election and the economy rebounds on his watch, much of the recovery will be due to efforts undertaken during the Obama administration.
Every president faces two painful, immutable truths about the economy: First, he has far less influence over it than voters think. Second, even when his actions make a difference, it is often not felt until after hes left office, and not always in the expected way.
Consider the two most successful presidents of recent decades. Ronald Reagan is often credited with sparking an economic renaissance by defeating inflation and deregulating the economy. But it was Jimmy Carters appointment of Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve that spelled the death knell for inflation (not to mention Carters reelection bid), and the deregulation of airlines, trucking and railroads all began under Carters watch.
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Stargleamer
(1,990 posts)They knew that the economy would eventually right itself, and they wanted to get the credit for that occurring. Anyone who is president for the next 4 years is going to see job increases--this economists agree on. If Romney is president he'll say he improved upon an economy in the doldrums and turned it around, even though his policies will overall bring about more inequality in this country, and in 2016 he'll win re-election based on this. This was the Republican plan all along and it makes me sick that they might get away with it.
Why the Obama campaign was so unprepared during the debate when talk of Zingers (what else could a Zinger be but an aggressive attack?)floated in the airwaves is hard to explain. It's as if they thought they were going to be debating McCain again. They should have known that Romney was going to be a lot more like Limbaugh and not McCain.
They need to consult with Bill Clinton on preparing for the townhall debate, and maybe Biden could say some of the stuff (that Romney views 47% see themselves as victims, refuse to take responsibility in their lives) that Obama irritatingly didn't mention in debate #1.
Response to DonViejo (Original post)
MadDash This message was self-deleted by its author.
treestar
(82,383 posts)A Dubya/Mittens monster!
Response to treestar (Reply #3)
MadDash This message was self-deleted by its author.