Michael Barone writes in the Washington Examiner:
the economic news has not been all that striking. We had a quarter in which economic growth reached 2.8 percent. We've had two months with job growth of better than 200,000.
Peachy. But in 1983, the year before Ronald Reagan's re-election, the gross domestic product rose 8.9 percent not just for one quarter but over the whole year. There were two months when job growth was 729,000 and 660,000.
That's the kind of economic recovery that enables an incumbent president's campaign to run a credible "Morning in America" ad. If the Obama campaign ran one now, it would be fodder for "Saturday Night Live" and Jon Stewart.
That 8.9% GDP number seemed high to me, so I went on the Bureau of Economic Analysis Web site, which reports annual real GDP growth of 4.5% for 1983 and 7.2% for 1984. The point stands nonetheless. I've emailed Mr. Barone about the number and will update this post if I get a response.
Mr. Barone also notes a finding of a New York Times poll on the free birth control pill mandate: "Its poll showed women favored allowing religious organizations to opt out of such coverage by a 53 to 38 percent margin. The margin among men and women together was 57 to 36 percent."