[lbo-talk] 2012 presidential election

[Wojtek S]

Interesting, but I think he missed a crucial point.  What matters is
not how the economy preforms, but how well the candidates are able to
frame economic issues in terms that are favorable to them.  To date,
Republicans have been more successful in it than Democrats.
Republicans portray economic issues as moral issues that resonate with
many US-ers, whereas Democrats portray economic issues as a laundry
list put together by pundits and lobbyists.

For a while, I thought Obama would be able to reverse that and portray
economic issues in moral terms that counter the Republican-style
morality and resonate with many US-ers.  To his credit, he made some
timid attempts in that direction, but to date he has not been very
successful.  On these grounds, I think it is likely he will follow
Carter's trajectory.  He cannot win the debate on the economy - which
is likely to occupy the center stage of the 2012 election - if that
debate is framed in Republican moral terms.  And to date - it has been
framed in these terms, and there is little hope this will change in
the next 18 months.

Wojtek