Corporate profits and financial markets have both rebounded strongly from their recession-era lows, and overall economic output has been resilient in the face of challenges domestic and foreign. All of that should work to the advantage of the party that has controlled the White House for the past eight years.īut Democrats haven’t seemed eager to embrace Obama’s legacy. Sanders takes every opportunity to rail against an economy that benefits primarily “millionaires and billionaires.” And though Hillary Clinton is more measured, she has sounded similar notes in a major economic speech over the summer, she said the economy “still isn’t delivering” for ordinary Americans. There’s no mystery about why Democrats are being cautious. Americans remain uneasy about the economy, even if they have become more sanguine in recent years. In a recent Wall Street Journal poll, just 47 percent of Democrats - and only 4 percent of Republicans - reported being “cautiously optimistic” about the economy. That dissatisfaction is driven by a harsh reality: Six-plus years after the recession officially ended, there has been no meaningful recovery in household income. At last month’s CNBC debate, which focused on economic issues, candidate after candidate blamed Obama and the Democrats for stagnant wages, persistent inequality and lackluster economic growth. Marco Rubio said the American dream is “slipping away.” John Kasich promised to “get this economy moving again.” And Bush, who has based his campaign in part on a pledge to return the country to 4 percent annual growth, asked viewers to “imagine a country where people are lifted out of poverty again.”īut Republicans face their own delicate dance.
The middle class didn’t exactly thrive under the last Republican president median household income rose sharply in the 1990s but was stagnant in the 2000s, when George W.
Then there’s the small matter of the financial crisis, which struck on Bush’s watch and sparked the worst recession since the Great Depression. Bush doesn’t necessarily deserve much blame for the economic collapse, but Democrats haven’t been shy about reminding voters who was in office when it happened.Īll of this presumes that the economy on Election Day next year will resemble the one we see today, but that’s far from a safe assumption.
In November 2007, many pundits expected the upcoming presidential campaign to focus on security and international issues.
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