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Charlie Cook: ““[T]his Remains an Election About the Economy”

Political analyst Charlie Cook writes in his most recent National Journal column that this election will be a referendum on the president’s handling of the economy – echoing what Speaker Boehner has been saying for months.  Cook notes that:

“[T]his remains an election about the economy....Unemployment is not expected to improve between now and the election. No incumbent wants to see an unemployment rate at 8 percent or higher. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the last to survive it in the Oval Office....

“We are past the point where Obama can win a referendum election, regardless of whether it is on him or the economy. The success of his campaign is contingent upon two things. First, when focusing on the narrow sliver of undecided voters, between 6 and 8 percent of the electorate, the Obama team must make its candidate the lesser of two evils. It has to make the prospect of a Mitt Romney presidency so unpalatable that about half of those undecided voters will begrudgingly vote for reelection. 

“Polling focusing on the undecided voters reveals they are a deeply pessimistic and angry segment of the electorate …[b]ut they show signs of being more conservative than not. One unpublished analysis gives Republicans a 10-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot test among those undecided about the presidential race. Close analysis of the numbers shows that Obama might have an edge with between a third and a quarter of the currently undecided bloc. That’s cutting things awfully close.”

As Speaker Boehner noted this morning on the 55KRC Morning Show: 

“It’s all about the President trying to find a way to win an election. His economic policies have failed, and as a result, he can’t run on his record, and he’s going to try to make the election about everything other than his failed economic policies… the American people vote with their wallets, the election is going to be about the economy, and he’s not doing well.”

House Republicans have been focused relentlessly on jobs and the economy, working to reduce uncertainty for job creators so they can hire more workers. The GOP-led House has passed more than 30 bills from the GOP’s pro-growth agenda, the Plan for America’s Job Creators. 

Whether the President likes it or not, this November is going to be a referendum on his economic policies.  Get involved by contributing to the Freedom Project today!