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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt's the Obama economy, stupid!
Why am I not seeing every single Dem giving credit to Obama and the American people on the economy every time it is brought up? I just saw on CNN that people are giving Trump 56% approval on his "handling of the economy." (Please. That's a push poll, most likely accidental, but a push poll. The question itself implies that Trump should get credit for the economy.)
We need to dispute that Trump deserves any creditnot question it, dispute it with complete self-assurance. We need to make it seem churlish, grasping, and arrogantly credit-grabbing for Trump to even suggest that he deserves any credit for Obama's economy. We shouldn't say, "Trump is 'forgetting' to credit Obama" or other forms of weak tea. We should say "It's Obama and the American people's economy. Trump can take credit for the weak-to-nonexistent gains in coal, steel, auto manufacturing, and the deep losses to rural communities thanks to his trade wars."
Currently, I'm seeing some of our folks trying to "pivot" on the question of the economy by saying un-useful things such as, "Americans are interested in issues other than the economy, like immigration, healthcare..." and so forth. That's not good; that's bad. Sure, by all means, pivot. But start with, "It's Obama's and the American People's economy, not Trump's. Trump's just putting his name on something he didn't have anything to do with again."
uponit7771
(90,323 posts)TwilightZone
(25,451 posts)His approval ratings on the economy are in the 50s, with a 54% average.
That can't all be Trump's base, because there aren't enough of them.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval_economy-6182.html
FBaggins
(26,727 posts)Especially after virtually everyone on the left is on record predicting a rapid decline if he were elected.
Might have been different if we had said the economy we built is so strong that even four years of Trump cant hurt it - but thats not how elections are run.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)TwilightZone
(25,451 posts)It's difficult to convince people that this is just a continuation of Obama's economy a couple years into Trump's term. The polls show that pretty clearly.
Trump's approval ratings on the economy are in the mid 50s. That's more than just his base. People are buying that he's responsible, and that's a problem.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval_economy-6182.html
gulliver
(13,179 posts)The case is very, very strong that Trump doesn't deserve credit. We need to make the case and make it very strongly. It's the truth. What's the alternative? Let Trump take all of the credit for something he doesn't deserve to take credit for?
That's just silly. That's the difficult thing to do in my opinion. Live in silly defeatism when we can act for truth.
TwilightZone
(25,451 posts)The polls are consistent and have been for some time now. It's very, very difficult to convince people that a guy who's been president for 2.5 years doesn't deserve credit for the economy, even when there's plenty of evidence that it's just a continuation of trends begun under President Obama.
We can ignore reality, but that doesn't make it any less real. People give him credit - a solid majority - and it's going to be something we'll have to deal with for 2020.
It's not defeatism. It's realism. The alternative is intentional ignorance.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)Simply dispute Trump's claim and do it knowing that his claim is wrong. It is. Dispute Trump's erroneous claim repeatedly. Will it change people's minds? Yes, it will. Will it "convince" them? Not really. But will it cause them to doubt Trump (which is the whole point)? Yes, it will. Trump is super, super doubtable now. People will start to associate his claims on the economy with his tendency to be a bloviating liar.
TwilightZone
(25,451 posts)No more so than he's been through the prior 10,000 lies. Most people have known he's a liar for years. Many have known for decades. Some care; some don't.
Nearly everyone made up their minds on Trump years ago. Pointing out a few more lies isn't going to make anyone have an epiphany.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)He's the boy who cried wolf. No one really believes anything he says anymore. In fact, if he says something, such as that he deserves credit for the economy, I think it actually makes people believe it less. We can help that process by justifiably asserting that Trump deserves little or no credit for the good part of the economy, and huge share the blame for the bad part.
As I say, he made a bunch of promises to people that he did not keep. For Trump to say he helped rural folks, auto workers, steel workers, and coal workers would simply be an outright lie. The difference is, this election they will know it from personal experience. Dems can win these people back and improve their lives.
gabeana
(3,166 posts)but maybe the polls are that way because Dems and former Obama officials are not deservedly claiming credit for saving the economy from Bush.
Trump takes credit for any and everything, so do his mouth pieces,
and then that narrative becomes "true" in many minds because there is no push back
This is Obama's economy and Trumps policy are going to eventually devastate us. Something like it needs to be part of the Dem message
TwilightZone
(25,451 posts)He's mocked Trump for taking credit for the economy on several occasions. Here are a couple from a quick search:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/09/us/politics/trump-obama-economy.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/02/obama-trump-economy-republicans-959046
Off the top of my head, I also recall Hoyer and Pelosi criticizing the administration for taking credit for the economy.
Cattledog
(5,914 posts)That was a huge accomplishment.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)hughee99
(16,113 posts)We should only do one or the other, not both.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)The good parts, the GDP, employment, and stock market trends are Obama's and the American People's. Those trends began with Obama and have tracked exactly as they tracked under Obama. The bad parts are Trump's and are Trump's broken promises to boot. That includes the "Carrier" jobs, coal jobs, steel jobs, and auto manufacturing jobs. That includes the huge losses to farmers and their surrounding rural communities.
A huge number of the very people who voted for Trump can't answer yes the question "are you better off?" For them, Trump's crowing about the economy should be nothing less than an insult.
kacekwl
(7,016 posts)I never hear any discussion regarding what trump policies are responsible for it. He's riding coattails is all.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)My concern is that Trump's Republican policies will do to us what they did in George W. Bush's second term. Obama didn't follow Dubya's coattails, and that was great for everyone.
thegoose
(3,115 posts)He just hate tweets, stuffs his disgusting gob with garbage food, watches Faux Nooz and thinks of ways to do horrible things to others.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)Not to mention he's undermining the Constitution.
NoMoreRepugs
(9,400 posts)after a 160%+ turnaround in the stock market and the longest sustained recovery in history...tRumpys economy isn't going to last IMHO.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)Trump is Dubya all over again, only worse.
NoMoreRepugs
(9,400 posts)AlexSFCA
(6,137 posts)Unfortunately, we cant dismiss the fact that trump managed to not screw up the economy. Most surprisingy, unemployment rates are extremely low.
gulliver
(13,179 posts)That's what happened from Clinton to Bush (Dubya).
If the trend had been bad under Obama and stayed bad, Trump would not deserve much blame. If it changed from a bad trend to a good trend under Trump, then Trump would deserve quite a bit credit. (That's what happened under Obama, and that's why he deserves credit for the continued good trend under Trump.)
Finally, if the trend under Obama was good and stayed good under Trump (as we have now), Trump doesn't get much credit. Some, but not much.
Unemployment rates being low? I heard statistics on CNN saying that part of that is people leaving the work force. Boomers are retiring in droves. I am one of them, although I have not retired yet. I don't necessarily think that's a good thing. More workers means more people paying into Social Security, buying homes, buying services, etc.
TwilightZone
(25,451 posts)He wants voters to credit Obama for the good and blame Trump for the bad. The problem is that voters tend to not be that great at nuance, so it doesn't really work like that in the real world.
House of Roberts
(5,168 posts)Trump is having to increase the deficit to do the same thing.
Year Deficit
2008 $459
2009 $1,413
2010 $1,294
2011 $1,300
2012 $1,087
2013 $679
2014 $485
2015 $438
2016 $585
2017 $665
2018 (est) $779
2019 (est) $1,091
2020 (est) $1,101
2021 (est) $1,068
TNNurse
(6,926 posts)are paying a living wage? How many of them are second and third jobs so the worker can pay rent and buy food??? Numbers are not the only measure.
John Fante
(3,479 posts)him the popularity bounce that it should. For comparison, look at GWB's numbers between January 1989 and July 1991. He too rode the coattails of the robust economy he inherited, but his approval ratings were in the 70% range. They approached 90% after Desert Storm.
Trump meanwhile struggles to hit 43% and routinely drops below 40%. Laughable ineptitude given that the unemployment rate is at 3.6%. Someone in his position would he a shoe-in for re-election. Instead, he's the underdog.
Perseus
(4,341 posts)Thank you
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)into urban and rural. Cuz my small home town, that I no longer live in, is not abuzz with new businesses and job opportunities.
doc03
(35,320 posts)TwilightZone
(25,451 posts)He has also mocked Trump for taking credit for it on multiple occasions.
Gothmog
(145,046 posts)LibFarmer
(772 posts)I wish the deplorables got it that Trump has done diddly squat for the economy other than hurt it.
There is going to be a recession soon and Trump will get the blame for ruining Obama's economy.