Happy days are here again, to cite the song favored by Franklin Roosevelt in his successful 1932 campaign for the presidency and the unofficial theme song of the Democratic party ever since. At least, they seem to be here again for President Barack Obama, whose approval ratings have climbed to or above the 50 percent mark deemed essential for any president seeking re-election. It’s not that his restructuring of the health care sector—Obamacare—has suddenly become popular; indeed, new regulations that force Catholic organizations to choose between their consciences, fines or shutting down have increased the fear and loathing of this transformation of the health care sector.
And it’s not that Americans have suddenly been taken with a fondness for big government of the sort that the president favors. Rather, it’s that the economy seems to have avoided a double-dip recession and to be edging upwards, perhaps even at an accelerating rate.
