And Monker's nuts. If Obama quit extending unemployment benefits (even though according to numbnuts everyone's finding jobs Laughing Rolling Eyes ) you'd see that real unemployment is around 18%. But he won't because he needs to keep those numbers steady.
As Dean pointed out, NOBODY is against extending those benefits...it's not just Obama doing it.
And, IMO, almost %20 of the workforce being unemployed is BS. I just don't believe it. You can quote any statistics you want. If it were that high, you would see rioting in the streets, not just at campaign rallies.
My point was/is, the markets have been on a steady climb all year. THAT is the first sign of a recovery. The job market where *I* am has a HUGE percentage in insurance, banking, and finance...the hardest hit industry in the Bush depression. That industry is ALSO in a steady recovery and is hiring again. So, the recession is bottomed out and we ARE in the recovery phase. Maybe where YOU are, 1 in five people are out of work (which I don't believe)...but I do not see anything close to that where I am...I see an economy in recovery.
By the end of this year, the economy is going to look very different...as the recovery moves into different industries and companies start hiring again. By the end of Obama's first four years...he is going to be able to point to the Republicans leading us into a depression and the Democrats leading us out of it. If the economy is THE issue (which it SHOULD be), the Republicans lose in a landslide as big as they won with Reagan/Mondale.
I remember when Clinton was in the middle of his scandal and I was arguing with some guy about him being reelected. He insisted there was no way Clinton could win because of the scandal and impeachment, etc. I argued that in the end it is the economy that would determine if he lost. In general, people are selfish and vote according to their bank account. That is why Clinton won...despite all of the BS surrounding him, the country as a whole was doing VERY well...MUCH better then under Bush. I can see Obama in the same situation...all of the BS "socialism" propaganda will be meaningless. Which, BTW, is more like Goebbels and McCarthy then anything Obama and the Democrats are doing...and MUCH more shameful. It will come down to the economy and if people are working and making a living again. People will vote according to their bank accounts...assuming of course that Obama continues being a skillful politician, speaker, and no monstrous gaffs happen.