In 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt was President, and the nation was in the depths of the Great Depression.
From a high of 25 percent unemployment, we had seen the unemployment rate decline to about 17 percent, in most estimates. In other words, we had seen a decline, but there was a lot of work to do on improving the economic picture. FDR chose to emphasize the progress made, and the idea why would anyone want to revert to the policies that had failed under Herbert Hoover.
He would use the concept of “Don’t Change Horses in Mid Stream” as the argument to re-elect him. It worked, as even with the high but improved unemployment rate, FDR won all but Maine and Vermont, and a total landslide in both electoral and popular votes against Kansas Governor Alf Landon in 1936.
Now in 2012, Barack Obama is using the same appeal: that with unemployment skyrocketing in 2009, and the rate raising to almost ten percent before declining, that great progress has been made in job creation, about 3.7 million jobs, with the chance of regaining ALL of the lost jobs by the time of the election, and with the rate now 8.3 percent, it could go down below 8 percent by November.
So therefore, why would one wish to return to the George W. Bush policies that failed economically, and led to the Great Recession, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression?
The Obama strategy seems to be working, as he now has a majority of the registered voters supporting him, and meanwhile, Mitt Romney is gaining fewer voters for himself, even as he wins primaries and caucuses!