The nation’s unemployment rate is 9.2% as underemployment (those who would like fulltime employment but cannot find it and those who want work but cannot find it) rose to 16.2%. Interestingly, President Obama’s top political adviser David Plouffe dismissed the relevance of these numbers to the 2012 election and the president’s chances of reelection.
Plouffe said:
“The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers,” Plouffe said. “People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?’”
An interesting observation considering the fact, observed by the New York Times, that ”no American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent.” What in the world is the White House thinking? Of course American’s view the economy through these indicators, they become the center of all discussion every month when they come out. Meanwhile 16.2% underemployment should give you a sense of what American’s will be thinking about the “decision” the President and Congress are making.
While I have no reason to believe there is a magic unemployment number that would matter or not for the election, I do know, as anyone who watches politics does, that there is often an unquantifiable “mood” the nation embodies during elections. Economics drives elections and the perception of an economy, regardless of actual indicators, usually drives voters. The “mood” at the moment is not a good one and indicators like unemployment rising won’t help shape the national perception or get the president reelected.
Like most politicians, the Obama administration is starting to sound wildly out of sync with the common man. Dismissing an indicator that will and should be watched by many American’s and speaks volumes of their current condition wreaks of desperation. Despite all the attempts to spin the weak growth we’ve seen in this economy, the fact remains that our marketplace is being torn asunder. If things don’t change, you can believe the unemployment rate will matter. It will be part of a series of indicators that will help shape the mood of this nation and become an issue Republicans will pounce on with great success.
For more information see Department of Labor workforce statistics.
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Tags: Fiscal Conservative, Obama Friends
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