On the eve of the first presidential debate, President Barack Obama maintains his national lead over Mitt Romney, but the Republican nominee is well within striking distance, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. … For Obama, he’s ahead at a time of growing optimism about the economy […] Read more »
Monthly Economic Confidence Up Sharply in September
The Gallup Economic Confidence Index averaged -19 in September, up from -27 in August and nearly matching the -17 seen in May, the highest monthly reading since the start of Gallup Daily tracking in 2008. … The eight-percentage-point overall improvement in September is almost entirely owing to a jump in […] Read more »
How The Economy Collapsed (As a Political Issue)
The big issue of the 2012 election — the American economy — has been settled. But just how it has been settled appears to depend on who you are: If you’re a Democrat, it’s something approaching morning in America. If you’re a Republican, we’re screwed. And if you’re Mitt Romney, […] Read more »
Democrats, Republicans on different planets when it comes to economy
It seems like only yesterday that Democrats thought Wisconsin’s economy was tanking and Republicans were declaring a new dawn of prosperity. That was during last spring’s recall fight, when a GOP governor was on the ballot. Today, the economy hasn’t changed much, but the politics has. Now it’s a Democratic […] Read more »
Struggling To Advance
The road still rises. But the climb is steeper, and the falls are more frequent. That’s the view of prospects for upward mobility in the modern American economy that emerges from the latest Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll. Although an overwhelming majority of Americans still define the U.S. as “the […] Read more »
For Americans, Being ‘Better Off’ Is a Matter of Perspective
“This president cannot tell us that you are better off today than when he took office,” Mitt Romney said as he accepted the Republican presidential nomination. Since then, “Are you better off?” has become a central theme of the campaign, and is likely to surface next week at the first […] Read more »