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  Democrats and the 'better off' question: time to say it loud and proud
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ContributorPatrick 
Last EditedPatrick  Sep 03, 2012 08:10pm
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CategoryBlog Entry
AuthorRichard Adams
MediaNewspaper - Guardian
News DateTuesday, September 4, 2012 02:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionStephanie Cutter, the Obama campaign's deputy director, was the unlucky sacrifice chosen to walk into a political minefield today: matching the Obama campaign's political aims with the reality of the sluggish American economy.

Asked "are we better off today than we were four years ago, when President Obama was elected?" on the Today show, Cutter replied confidently: "Absolutely." It wasn't so much the answer as the alacrity with which Cutter gave it: like an intern being offered a happy-hour martini.

Although she also proffered a series of justifications – Cutter said the economic recovery "might not be as fast as people hoped, and the president agrees" – the Republicans were quick to pounce on Cutter's remarks, brandishing them as evidence of the Obama campaign's failure to grasp the realities of high unemployment and sluggish growth.

For Cutter and the rest of the Obama campaign, there's a compelling need to go out on a limb and say yes, things are better than they were, even if that makes them an easy target for the Romney campaign. It helps that there's some economic and financial justification for the "absolutely" claim, but it's the political angle that means they have to take a hit now to try and avoid the fate of George Bush Sr in 1992 or Jimmy Carter in 1980.
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