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 The answer is the growing U.S. economy, on pace to expand as much as
3.5 percent this year, about the best performance in the
industrialized world. Unemployment has fallen from 10 percent to
about 6.3 percent and consumer confidence is at a six-year high.
Better economic data could help persuade voters in November to look
past President Barack Obama's weak approval ratings and his
unpopular healthcare law and give Democrats enough lift to hold onto
the Senate and limit their losses in the House, political
strategists said. Yet a debate about the actual state of the
economy, which Americans consistently rate in polls as among their
top concerns, may be missing in the run-up to Congressional
elections.
"It's bad for Democrats to make the argument the economy is
improving. Bad, bad, bad," said Erica Seifert, a senior associate at
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, which advises many Democratic candidates.
Instead, many Democrats are focused on promoting ways to improve the
economy -- raising the minimum wage, providing affordable college
education and closing the pay gap between men and women -- all while
ignoring the positive signs.
That's because even though the data is pointing higher, many
American voters see an economic landscape still littered with
long-term joblessness, stagnant wages and excessive personal debt,
Seifert said.
It's not just strategists who advise keeping the good news on the
down low - politicians who might have been expected to trumpet how
the nation has emerged from the worst recession since the 1930s are
focused on improvements still to be made rather than the better data
for the economy as a whole.
BATTLE FOR SENATE
Between now and Election Day on November 4, the battle for the
Senate largely will be fought in Louisiana, North Carolina, Alaska,
Arkansas and New Hampshire.
The big prize in November's elections is control of the Senate, as
Republicans see 2014 as their best chance in years to end the
majority control Democrats have enjoyed since 2007.
For example, in Louisiana and New Hampshire, it would seem as if a
4.5 percent unemployment rate ought to hearten Democratic Senators
Mary Landrieu and Jeanne Shaheen.
If it does, they are not acknowledging it.
Asked about the possibility of a buffed-up economy improving her
re-election prospects, Louisiana's Landrieu said, "It's not going to
change anything about my campaign." She added, "I'm going to
continue to run hard and not take anything for granted." Landrieu is
a client of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner.
Shaheen, asked about economic indicators that normally would make a
politician smile, said: "One of the things I continue to hear from
people is concern about the economy, about jobs, about student
loans, about...retirement." She added that her campaign will focus
on how she has tried to tackle those problems.
Republicans are expected to maintain their hold in the House of
Representatives, and possibly expand it, as midterm elections
typically favor the party not in control of the White House.
Republicans have not let the positive data stop them from attacking
Democrats' record on the economy.
RYAN'S VIEW
"We are five years into Obamanomics and the economy is not
improving," Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said at an April 8
press conference. Ryan, the unsuccessful Republican vice
presidential candidate in 2012, is a leading voice on conservative
budget and economic matters.
Along those lines, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who
faces a tough re-election battle in Kentucky this year, regularly
talks about "the sorry state of the economy" under Obama.
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However, Pete Brodnitz of Benenson Strategy Group, which advises
Democratic candidates including Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, said
it would be a "huge mistake" to ignore the economy's improvements
during this year's campaigns.
"I personally think it's very important that Democrats talk about
how we're making progress on the economy because if we don't, who
will?'' he said. "If we don't, people will continue to believe"
Republican claims that there has been no improvement, he said.
Consumer confidence already is building, according to surveys, and
job creation has been showing gains.
There were 8.8 million jobs lost during the deep recession that
began in December 2007. Now, employment is accelerating, with 9.2
million jobs added since February 2010, according to government
figures.
Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate has declined to a 5-1/2
year low of 6.3 percent from a peak of 10 percent in October 2009.
HOLD SEATS
The anticipated economic upturn, Bowman said, "is not a
game-changer" in the November elections, "But it could help a few
Democrats" hold onto their seats, he said.
With Republicans needing a net gain of six seats to win control of
the Senate, a few seats turning in Democrats' favor due to the
economy could determine whether Obama spends his last years in
office with a divided Congress like now, or with one fully
controlled by opposition Republicans. Senate Democrats are trying to
defend 21 seats, compared to 14 being defended by Republicans.
"There are some green shoots that could possibly portend a little
difficulty" for Republicans going forward, said Karlyn Bowman, a
senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise
Institute where she studies public opinion.
And the pause in Washington's fiscal wars following last October's
government shutdown has diminished the electorate's feeling of doom
and gloom, Bowman said. That "will help incumbents" running this
fall, she said.
"Signs of life in the economy could be a major plus for the
Democrats," wrote Greg Valliere of Potomac Research Group in an
April 21 note to subscribers. "Most Americans still think we're in a
recession (it ended in June of 2009), but attitudes could change by
Labor Day, which would give Democrats a crucial boost" in November,
he said.
For now, too many Americans are not feeling the effects of an
improving economy, said Ron Bonjean, a longtime Republican
strategist and partner at Singer Bonjean Strategies.
"You need to have three or four months of solid job growth on the
national and local level," he said, adding, "The number of people
dropping out (of the labor force) needs to slow down" before Obama
and his Democrats can even start touting it.
(Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani. Editing by John Pickering)
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