Shaky economic prospects threaten both parties

By Harold Meyerson,
Washington Post
Published: April 24

In the short term, the recovery looks shaky. In the long term, the economy looks shaky — so shaky that it may be many years before a president of either party or any ideology can count on winning a second term. Polls show that President Obama’s lead over Mitt Romney is narrowing, but should Obama lose in November the decisive factor won’t be Romney (who is as inept a presidential candidate as this country has produced in decades).

The real culprit will be the economy. The winter’s encouraging signs of recovery have given way to spring doubts. Weekly unemployment claims have risen and housing starts have declined. The specter of a new European recession threatens to stifle U.S. exports and endanger global finance. But it is the reasons behind the past month’s sobering economic news that really threaten Obama’s reelection — and would imperil Romney’s in 2016, should he unseat Obama this fall. As currently constituted, the U.S. economy looks less and less capable of generating the kind of prosperity that a president, or a party, needs to ensure a long run in power.

(More here.)