Four years ago when Obama was running for election, the economy was at the forefront. In 2008, Obama ran on hope. Hope for a better economy. Hope for less animosity in Washington. Hope for a better future for all Americans. How has that turned out? Not as well as many Americans expected. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, when Obama took office in January, 2009, unemployment was at 4.9%. Nearly four years later, unemployment is at 8.2%. For many Americans. the near future holds little promise. As for partisanship and animosity in Washington, it is as prevalent as ever and shows no sign of abating.
With a moribund economy and stubborn unemployment, Obama had his work cut out for him. After a year of hard work and massive spending, unemployment had risen to 9.6% and the economy remained flat. It was only in 2011 that President Obama's efforts began to bear fruit. Trillions of dollars and near historical government intervention in the economy had succeeded in bringing unemployment down to 8.2%. Obama recently pointed to the addition of 4.4 million new jobs over the last 28 months, curiously omitting the first 13 months of his tenure in which there was a net loss in jobs. That might seem like an impressive number but if you consider that in the midst of the "Great Recession" of 1981-82, 9.5 million new jobs were created, the number doesn't seem like much to boast about. Under Obama, we have run three straight years of trillion dollar deficits. The national debt has increased by over $5 trillion. That is a lot of money to pay for 4.4 million new jobs.
In 2008, Obama ran on the economy. He vowed to get America back on its feet. Four years later, President Obama is once again promising to fix the economy. He has boasted that the economy has improved, if only statistically. He asserts that the improvement in employment figures are a "step in the right direction". Four years and trillions of dollars have obtained only a few steps. Not really a bargain. Three and a half years after he was elected deficits have increased, he debt has increased, unemployment still hovers at around 10%, the economy is treading water, the world is no safer, and the American public is more polarized than ever. Obama can't run on hope. He can't run on achievement. He certainly cannot run against government spending. Obama has to run
against Romney. He has to run on fear. That is why he continually states his case in terms of how things will be even worse if Romney is elected.
Four years ago, Obama pledged to get the economy running. Many Americans were willing to look past Obama's liberalism and accept his promise of a better economic future. But instead of an economic recovery, what we got was gays in the military, social turmoil, massive debt, and a health care fiasco that is
likely to cost trillions down the road. Instead of comity in Washington, we have discord. By championing the causes of gay rights and universal health care Obama has injected the government into areas that guaranty political struggle for generations to come. Instead of fiscal sobriety we are $4 trillion dollars deeper into debt. All of this was done with an eye towards being reelected. We have gone from "hope", to "things could be worse". Imagine what another four years will bring.
