So we got the January jobs numbers – an unemployment rate of 8.3%, and Obama and his defenders in the media are dancing in the streets. And Mitt Romney responds:
“We welcome the fact that jobs were created and unemployment declined. Unfortunately, these numbers cannot hide the fact that President Obama’s policies have prevented a true economic recovery. We can do better.”
Oh, give me a break. That’s the best you can do, Mitt? “Obama is doing okay, but I can do better.” Spare me!
People do not believe we’re in a recovery. There is fertile ground out there for questioning this administration on every level, and you’re granting them a rosy jobs report? You are simply not going to beat him with that mentality.
The labor force participation rate is at a 30-year low. A record 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in January. THAT’S why the rate has gone down – they have moved the baseline.
If people believed we were in a recovery, they would be re-entering the labor force. Is that so hard to understand? Why the kid gloves treatment of Obama and the disaster he is wreaking on this country and its economy? Don’t you know how to hammer your opponent?
The raw numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that there were 133,172,000 people in nonfarm employment in November, which shrank to 132,952,000 in December, which shrank to 130,263,000 in January. Now those are raw numbers – not seasonally adjusted. But they show the shallowness of treating the numbers as if we’ve had some breakthrough in the economy. Sluggish, slow, depressed, are the words that come to mind.
Now Romney did go on in his statement to mention the declining labor force participation rate and the weak GDP numbers, but these were phrased in such a gentle way that the opening line, “We welcome …”, was left as a dominant part of the statement.
What is the source of this myth of Romney’s electability? Nothing, historical, analytical, or intelligent suggests that. There are the pre-campaign polls, which provide only superficial impressions and are historically meaningless. But if you want to look at them, look at the latest pre-campaign matchup between Santorum and Obama – Santorum has a slight edge. Given his low name recognition, that is interesting. Add in his basic likability, the fervor of his convictions, his résumé as the grandson of a coal miner, his strong stands on issues which are much more in line with the majority of real people (opposition to the bailouts, cap and trade, health care mandates, etc.), he is clearly the most electable Republican still in the race.
