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38% of Americans feel better off than a year ago
President Barack Obama debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida.
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Every bit of public data -- housing, employment, consumer spending -- changes how voters feel about the state of the nation -- and about their own well-being.
Politicians on both sides are asking people are you better off than you were four years ago. According to Gallup polling, 38 percent of Americans say they are better off now than a year ago, and 34 percent report they are worse off.
“When we look back in history, it actually looks like Obama is in a better position than where that number was for the three presidents who lost their bids for re-election going back to Gerald Ford in 1976,” says Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of Gallup.
I'm a little worse off than a year ago (lower pay (after being RIF'd in January) and higher kid tuition costs), but I have no trust that Romney can pull us out of the economy that Bush left us with. In fact, if you measure the stock market, Romney probably won't be able to make much improvement there. The stock market is as high as QE 3 can take it. Romney certainly won't improve the employment picture... he simply can't and probably won't have much motivation either. He's got the venture capitalist mind that likes to cut rank and file workers. He's only interested in his investment buddies (and only interested in the 47% or 99% for their votes).
