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Friday, October 5, 2012

2012 The Bad News Returns for Romney

Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Oct 5, 2012 at 7:31 AM

The new employment numbers are not bad. In fact, they are very positive. Unemployment dropped to 7.8, the lowest it has been since the month Obama was inaugurated, and last month's estimate was revised from 96,000 to 142,000. Romney really needed bad numbers this morning to start something that would feel like momentum. That did not happen. The stock market rose on this report. USA Today:

The Labor Department's report that unemployment has fallen below 8% for the first time since January 2009 is sure to provide a needed political boost for President Obama...

...For President Obama, the first national unemployment rate to fall below 8% during his presidency couldn't come at a better time.

The GOP is so spooked by these numbers that some are now turning to conspiracy theories:

Screen_shot_2012-10-05_at_7.04.53_AM.png

Romney's moment in the sun might have been very short.

UPDATE: Yes, the GOP is totally freaking out about the job numbers.

“Chicago style politics is at work here,” Florida GOP Rep. Allen West wrote on his Facebook page. “Somehow by manipulation of data we are all of a sudden below 8 percent unemployment, a month from the Presidential election. This is Orwellian to say the least...

UPDATE: A day after the euphoria, the GOP is in a state of panic. It knows the show is over if the US believes in those job numbers...

Americans for Limited Government, a conservative group that has been a steady critic of the Obama administration, issued a statement that said the numbers the Bureau of Labor Statistics "used to calculate the unemployment rate are wrong, or worse manipulated. Given that these numbers conveniently meet Obama's campaign promises one month before the election, the conclusions are obvious...Anyone who takes this unemployment report serious is either naive or a paid Obama campaign adviser."

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Comments (13) RSS

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No, no, no..it was Romney's debate performance that we can thank for these numbers.

Posted by ArtBasketSara on October 5, 2012 at 7:35 AM

@1: Sad thing is, his campaign is going to say something like this. Akin to the whole idea that the economy will just start doing better if he is elected.

"The stock and jobs market are responding to the higher chance of Romney being elected, and showing the confidence the market has in Governor Romney"

Posted by Theodore Gorath on October 5, 2012 at 7:58 AM

Wow, Jack Welch. First your whole management theory goes down in flames and now...you're just another crazy old white dude. Must be so hard to be you.

Posted by stating the obvious on October 5, 2012 at 8:06 AM

Job numbers go down! "See, Obama can't do anything right." Job numbers go up! "It doesn't count! They're not real jobs, they're pretend jobs by children in playhouses. DA CHICAGO BOYZ are cheating by counting them." Job numbers do nothing! "See? Obama is such an incapable president he has no effect whatsoever." Unemployment drops to .5%! "All those people processing unemployment checks? Obama put them out of work! Fire his ass!" Job numbers completely inverse and unemployment now stands at -7%. "Obama has broken the system with his socialist Kenyan ways. We need someone more American to fix this mess!"

Posted by Zebes

on October 5, 2012 at 8:06 AM

Wow, no joke. Checked the comment section of my local paper and all the wingnuts are completely rectum-ired.

Posted by GermanSausage on October 5, 2012 at 8:22 AM

Good Morning Charles,
Interesting how you spin the UR news "The bad news returns for Romney". I just finished reading the headline on the NY Times site in very large font BTW, "Jobless rate at 7.8%, lowest since 2009". Clearly, I interpreted it as yet another example of Obama's good luck. It was unexpected & fortuitous to be sure. Yes, I want more Americans working. So, the news is good anyway one cuts it. But, I don't vote my pocket book.

Romney benefitted from the debate performance no doubt. But, it remains to be seen whether the UR news actually benefits Obama. There are still two more debates this month and the UR comes out only once a month. This "bad news for Romney" will be old hat by Monday next week.

Posted by lark on October 5, 2012 at 8:27 AM

fyy

Posted by ttbjuju8 on October 5, 2012 at 8:40 AM

And now we approach the seasonal job market where unemployment will drop further for the next two months. The right wing is going to scream like crazy but normal folks will be pleased.

Posted by Pope Peabrain on October 5, 2012 at 8:46 AM

GOP reactionaries have to demean Chicago because it's a place where the Democratic Party plays to win, and does.

Posted by Max Solomon on October 5, 2012 at 8:59 AM

@4 - If unemployment were at -7%, Romney would promise to lay America off.

Posted by MacCrocodile

on October 5, 2012 at 9:14 AM

I loved it in 2009, less than 6 months after he was elected how the high numbers were all his fault and those numbers were obviously correct then but now, now the numbers are manipulated and wrong!

Posted by tigntink on October 5, 2012 at 11:10 AM

Ah! A twist! Romney didn't cause the numbers to drop...Obama...OBAMA faked it! Just like he faked all those really high unemployment numbers. That sneaky,socialist, Kenyan bastard!

Posted by ArtBasketSara on October 5, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Still looking forward to seeing the more recent polls to see if Romneybot got a bounce from all his lying during the first debate.

While Matthews, Sullivan and Schultz went ballistic, seems like calmer heads are prevailing among the Left. Romney "won" the first debate by lying through his teeth. Not sure if he'll get more voters out of his performance in swing states though. We'll see.

Posted by Patricia Kayden on October 5, 2012 at 12:36 PM