Fate smiles on the prez, but what will it mean on Tuesday?
Barack Obama and the power of good luck
Posted by Chris Cillizza on November 2, 2012 at 1:14 pm, WashPost
In politics — as in life — it’s better to be lucky than good.
And, as the last week of the presidential campaign has made clear, President Obama is both — benefitting from a series of political advantageous moments that few could have predicted even a month ago.
On Friday, the final jobs report before the election showed the unemployment rate under eight percent — although barely at 7.9 percent — for the month of October and a strong(ish) 171,000 jobs created in the month. It marked the second straight month that the unemployment rate had been below 8 percent, allowing Obama to close the campaign by arguing that his policies have (finally) started working.
Earlier in the week, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy up and down the Eastern Seaboard allowed Obama to throw off the candidate cloak and put on the commander-in-chief jacket. (Literally.) In Washington Post-ABC News tracking polls, roughly eight in ten voters said they thought the President was doing either an “excellent” or “good” job in his handling of Hurricane Sandy.
And for that sliver of independent and/or undecided voters who hate the nastiness and bickering of partisan politics, the pictures of Obama working hand in glove with Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were just the sort of thing that they want to see.
(More here.)
Posted by Chris Cillizza on November 2, 2012 at 1:14 pm, WashPost
In politics — as in life — it’s better to be lucky than good.
And, as the last week of the presidential campaign has made clear, President Obama is both — benefitting from a series of political advantageous moments that few could have predicted even a month ago.
On Friday, the final jobs report before the election showed the unemployment rate under eight percent — although barely at 7.9 percent — for the month of October and a strong(ish) 171,000 jobs created in the month. It marked the second straight month that the unemployment rate had been below 8 percent, allowing Obama to close the campaign by arguing that his policies have (finally) started working.
Earlier in the week, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy up and down the Eastern Seaboard allowed Obama to throw off the candidate cloak and put on the commander-in-chief jacket. (Literally.) In Washington Post-ABC News tracking polls, roughly eight in ten voters said they thought the President was doing either an “excellent” or “good” job in his handling of Hurricane Sandy.
And for that sliver of independent and/or undecided voters who hate the nastiness and bickering of partisan politics, the pictures of Obama working hand in glove with Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were just the sort of thing that they want to see.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Good Lord. What planet am I on where 7.9% unemployment and hurricane could be incorporated in an article focusing on good luck?
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