The Pew Center is wrong
A Politically Confusing Economy
By DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: February 1, 2004
NOBODY doubts that many Americans will vote their pocketbooks in this year's presidential election. The puzzle is figuring out which party those pocketbooks will favor.
The Democratic candidates, traveling around Arizona, Missouri and other states holding primaries this week, are talking about the millions of layoffs and millions of people who have lost health insurance under President Bush. Senator John Kerry, whose fortunes have risen as the war in Iraq as receded as an issue, has dismissed the recent surge of economic growth as a "Wall Street Bush-league recovery."
Mr. Bush, on the other hand, is showing new confidence that the economy will in fact help his chances come November. His State of the Union address offered a laundry list of Reaganesque optimism that he is likely to repeat in coming months: home ownership, exports and employment are up; inflation and interest rates are down. Mr. Bush even dropped a common refrain from last year in which he had vowed not to be satisfied until everyone looking for work could find it.
"It's difficult to figure out," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, "if the glass is half-empty or half-full."
