Any notion that President Obama's reelection campaign was gaining momentum was shaken this week by a string of worrisome economic reports showing weakness in the job market and new lows for housing prices. Except in that bastion of government workers, the Washington, D.C. area.
The bad news for Obama stood in contrast to a run of positive developments
Not to mention adding a third war - excuse me - kinetic action - in Libya.
And several potentially strong Republican presidential candidates took a pass on the race.
"The prospect of economic growth getting up to a point and unemployment getting down to a point that is comfortable for an incumbent are declining by the month, and are now not very high at all," said William Galston, a policy adviser in the Clinton White House and a veteran of Democratic presidential campaigns. "I hope there's someone on the inner circle with the standing and the guts to tell the president that, if things continue the way they're going, despite everything he's done, he's going to be in trouble."
So many snarks, so little bandwidth.
However...
Obama's advisers said Friday's job report could be an aberration and should not distract from the president's success in helping rescue the economy from the worst recession since the Great Depression. Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, said on MSNBC that the plant Obama visited would have been closed if any of the Republican candidates had been president.
Keep going, Danny Boy!
Behind the economic distress is a series of unexpected events
Which can still be blamed on Bush, unless someone remembers the gulf drilling ban. And the talk of energy taxes. And cap and trade. Et cetera.
As a result of the unemployment rate turning back up and the housing market reaching new lows since the slump began in 2006, numerous economists have reduced their expectations for economic growth this year.
Even more challenging for Obama is that some of the hardest-hit states, such as Florida, Nevada and Michigan, are critically important for his reelection strategy.
I think the proper term here is "Karma, Baby".
Democrats believe the auto bailout can be a big political winner in the industrial Midwest. But the administration has struggled to show progress in helping struggling homeowners.
Some of us bought our present dwelling in 2006, thinking the slump was short-lived and are now upside down, hoping to retire 1,500 miles away, in a few years, near the grandchildren. Not all the victims deserved the housing crash. Stoopid? Perhaps. Greedy? Deserving? No.
White House allies
As long as they keep disillusioning themselves this way, the Anti-Dems have a chance in 2012.
"The main worry for Republicans at this point is nominating a strong and credible potential president," said Whit Ayers, a GOP pollster. "I think we will, but obviously if you want to replace a current president, you have to nominate a credible alternative."