Presidents tend to get credit for good economies and blame for bad ones. Of course, it's unfair to place the full responsibility for the lack of progress on Obama. The hangover from the financial crisis deserves much of the blame regardless of who was president. Families are still carrying lots of debt, while income isn't growing. And it would be disingenuous not to place some blame on Republican intransigence. The party's insistence on austerity at state and local levels has been a drag on incomes everywhere. Had Obama enjoyed the same level of government hiring and spending trends that George W. Bush had, the economy would be much stronger, and that ratio would be far less onerous.
None of that matters. The Republicans tapped into dissatisfactionwith the Obama economy, despite how positive large parts of it look on paper. The average family has had no gain in income for six years and they are working harder to pay down the excess leverage from the 2000s.
Obama didn't address this. At least, that seems to be the message the Republicans got out, early and often. A diffuse anger toward Obama was tapped and in many subtle ways, directed toward this issue.
Regular readers know I am not big on forecasts, but I am going to make one here and now: The party that figures out how to respond to this issue in a way that resonates with voters will win the White House in 2016.Again, "It's the economy, stupid."
Bloomberg View
One Chart Explains Democrats' Loss
Barry Ritholtz
2 comments:
Agree on "it's the economy, stupid," but disagree with Barry's belief that our politicians are interested in figuring out "how to respond to this issue."
The rich are doing great, as far as they are concerned, America's economic policies are awesome.
It's likely that neither party will respond to the issue and the strategy will be to continue to poll wedge issues to capture interest groups.
Both parties are committed to neoliberalism as a given, so if the actual issue is addressed, once elected the party in power will bury it either by ignoring it or through some subterfuge that blunts it.
What most people don't understand is that the American Empire depends on neoliberalism, neo-imperialism and neocolonialism and cannot exist otherwise. The ruling elite will therefore do what it takes to ensure its continuance, no matter the costs. The stakes are global hegemony and the wealth that global dominance brings the empire and its elite.
The elite understand how this is all structured, and most ordinary people don't have a clue that it even exists, let alone how it works.
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