G.O.P. Seizes on a Question: Are You Better Off Than You Were 4 Years Ago?

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Times:

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Representative Paul D. Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee, slammed President Obama’s handling of the economy on Monday, seizing on hesitant responses by Mr. Obama’s top strategists when asked whether the country was better off than it was four years ago.

“The president can say a lot of things, but he can’t tell you you are better off,” Mr. Ryan said while campaigning in Greenville, N.C., ahead of the opening of the Democratic convention here on Tuesday.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. hit back quickly, telling a union audience in Detroit that the administration unequivocally believes that the country’s economy has improved since Mr. Obama took over from President Bush.

“Folks, let me make something clear,” Mr. Biden said. “I’ll say it to the press. America is better off today than they left us.”

The dueling comments from the two vice presidential rivals came as Democrats gathered in North Carolina to begin their three-day convention on Tuesday. And it came after a weekend in which several top supporters of Mr. Obama hesitated to say that the country is better off than it was.

Republicans are eager to put the Democrats on the defensive on the question at the start of the Democratic convention. Polls suggest that many people remain pessimistic about the state of the economy and their own financial future — a fact that Republicans hope will help to undermine Mr. Obama’s convention message this week.

A spokesman for Mitt Romney’s campaign criticized Democrats for seeming out of touch with the plight of everyday Americans.

“The middle class has been crushed under President Obama, but he doesn’t seem to get it,” said Amanda Hennenberg, a spokeswoman for Mr. Romney. “Americans deserve a president who understands we’re not better off and has a plan to fix it.”

The attacks come a day after Martin O’Malley, the Democratic governor of Maryland, responded to a question by saying that America was not better off than it was when Mr. Obama was elected.

“No,” he said, “but that’s not the question of this election. The question, without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before George Bush brought us the Bush job losses, the Bush recession, the Bush deficits.”

Mr. O’Malley’s comments on CBS’s “Face the Nation” were followed by awkward responses from David Axelrod and David Plouffe, two of the top strategists for Mr. Obama’s campaign. Both men sought to dodge a direct answer to the question of whether the country was better off.

On Monday, top Democrats quickly shook off their hesitation and equivocation.

At a rally in Detroit, Vice President Joseph R. Biden said, “You want to know whether we’re better off? I’ve got a little bumper sticker for you. Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive.”

On CNN, Mr. O’Malley sought to clarify his comments “We are clearly better off as a country because we’re now creating jobs rather than losing them,” he said.

Brad Woodhouse, the communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said that the country was “absolutely” better off.

“The truth is that the American people know, we were literally a plane, the trajectory was towards the ground,” Mr. Woodhouse said on CNN. “He got the stick and pulled us up out of that decline.”

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Obama is my co-pilot?

[RidesAPaleHorse]

[Valin]

@WestVirginiaRebel

 

Obama Team Readjusts On ‘Are You Better Off?’

Jake Tapper

9/3/12

 

After either saying “no” or refusing to give a straight yes or no answer to Sunday show anchors when asked if Americans are better off today than they were four years ago, officials from Team Obama this morning changed their answers and enthusiastically offered a capital-Y “Yes.”

 

One day ago, Democrats had a different answer to that question.

 

(Snip)