Plan A: Screw the country and blame the president
Slowdown in Growth Could Reshape Fight for White House
By JONATHAN WEISMAN and MARK LANDLER, NYT
WASHINGTON — The weak employment report on Friday held the potential to reshape the presidential campaign, members of both parties said, lifting Mitt Romney’s efforts to make the race all about President Obama’s handling of the economy and making it harder for Democrats to break through in their efforts to define Mr. Romney on their terms.
On Capitol Hill, the signs of a slowdown focused new attention on the economic implications of the partisan standoff over tax and spending policy. On the campaign trail, both sides saw the news as a potential turning point in a critical battle at this stage. The race may be a referendum on Mr. Obama, as Republicans want, or, as Democrats prefer, a choice between a president nursing the economy back to health and a challenger who represents the failed policies that caused the crisis in the first place.
Democrats in particular were left off balance, sensing that most of their policy ammunition has been spent and that Republicans have nothing to gain politically from lending a hand on a compromise that could spur economic growth this year.
“It’s going to be a close election. Everybody’s worried,” said Representative Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee. “We’ve already floored the accelerator. We’ve already gripped the steering wheel. I’m not sure they’re attached to anything anymore.”
(More here.)
By JONATHAN WEISMAN and MARK LANDLER, NYT
WASHINGTON — The weak employment report on Friday held the potential to reshape the presidential campaign, members of both parties said, lifting Mitt Romney’s efforts to make the race all about President Obama’s handling of the economy and making it harder for Democrats to break through in their efforts to define Mr. Romney on their terms.
On Capitol Hill, the signs of a slowdown focused new attention on the economic implications of the partisan standoff over tax and spending policy. On the campaign trail, both sides saw the news as a potential turning point in a critical battle at this stage. The race may be a referendum on Mr. Obama, as Republicans want, or, as Democrats prefer, a choice between a president nursing the economy back to health and a challenger who represents the failed policies that caused the crisis in the first place.
Democrats in particular were left off balance, sensing that most of their policy ammunition has been spent and that Republicans have nothing to gain politically from lending a hand on a compromise that could spur economic growth this year.
“It’s going to be a close election. Everybody’s worried,” said Representative Jim Cooper, Democrat of Tennessee. “We’ve already floored the accelerator. We’ve already gripped the steering wheel. I’m not sure they’re attached to anything anymore.”
(More here.)
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