If you watched Speaker Boehner this past Sunday on ABC’s This Week you probably heard him reaffirm to host Jake Tapper that this year will be a “referendum” on President Obama’s performance on jobs and the economy. The calculation is widely accepted: the president sets the agenda in Washington, and is judged in a reelection year based on his or her record on the issues Americans care most about (jobs and the economy).
So how are things looking as more and more Americans begin to think about the November elections? Here’s the story:
>> CBO expects “sluggish” economy, “high unemployment” and another deficit exceeding $1 trillion. (New York Times, 1/31/2011)
>> “Consumer confidence stalls in January” over “rising gas prices,” “unemployment.” (The Hill, 1/31/12)
>> Obama "Solidly Underwater … In Many States, Worse Than Publicly Perceived" (National Journal, 1/31/12)
>> "Perhaps Most Troublesome To Obama's Re-Election Campaign Were The Declines Sustained In 12 General Election Battlegrounds." (ABC News' Political Punch, 1/31/12)
>> “Obama approval rating down in all but three states in 2011.” (Los Angeles Times, 2/1/12)
>> “Why Obama should be worried.” (Politico, 2/2/2012)
Working from a recent Gallup survey, the Washington Examiner yesterday mapped out how the election would go if President Obama only carried states in November where he currently has a net positive approval rating:
Granted, a lot will happen between now and Election Day. But Americans have been watching these past three years as President Obama has championed an agenda that included a trillion dollar “stimulus” that didn’t create the jobs we were promised, a government takeover of health care the American people didn’t want, and a “cap and trade” national energy tax that created massive uncertainty for job creators across America.
Speaker Boehner went on to argue on This Week that the president’s policies not only haven’t worked, they’ve made things worse. It’s a message that resonates with hard-working families and small businesses across America.
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