From the Wall Street Journal, “Economy Grew 3.3% in 2nd Quarter, Much Higher Than Initial Reading” by Jeff Bater and Brian Blackstone Okay, lets’ get a couple of things straight. There have been two whopping dislocations in the economy over the past year or so. The decline in home values and the rise in fuel prices have hit the average American hard, and there’s nothing that the average American can do to make those things unhit them. They can’t just dump their houses, and they can’t ditch their cars. Politicians ignore these developments at their peril. But every four years, the Democrats gather for their national convention and paint a portrait of an America right out of Dickens. If John Edwards had been allowed in Denver, he probably would have spoken about the woeful plight of pre-teen chimney sweeps. In other words, as the new economic data show, things are a bit more nuanced than the Democrats seem able to process. One thing about our presidential elections in the mass information age – the most optimistic candidate always wins. Seriously. Take it all the way back to Kennedy if you care to. And that’s historically been one of the Democrats’ biggest shortcomings – they’re perennially down on America. Bill Clinton overcame this by being the Man from Hope. Barack Obama, back when his shtick was still fresh, also had the ability to show a faith in a better tomorrow. That’s what made him such a formidable candidate, before he bought into the dearly held Democratic view of American mediocrity. As we’ve seen again this week, the Democratic party is always a millstone around its nominee’s neck. Not that the Republican party isn’t a millstone around Senator McCain’s neck, of course.
