It’s not only the economy, stupid. Especially when the economy may already be improving.
Republicans this year seem to be over-enamored of Democratic strategist James Carville’s wisdom from the 1992 presidential race, when he famously insisted that candidate Bill Clinton’s campaign forget left-wing wish lists and instead focus on the relatively weak economy under President George H.W. Bush.
Yes, when the economy under your incumbent opponent is bad, it’s usually true that you can defeat that incumbent by blaming him for economic woes. The reality, though, is that by historical standards, today’s economy is pretty good. If perception catches up to that reality before Election Day in November, and if Republicans haven’t teed up noneconomic topics as well, then the bulk of the “swing voters” who are sick of Republican former President Donald…
