Painting Themselves Into A Corner

Bad news for Democratic presidential candidates. The economy is turning around.

The increase in gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy’s performance, in the July-September quarter was more than double the 3.3 percent rate registered in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

The 7.2 percent pace marked the best showing since the first quarter of 1984. It exceeded analysts’ forecasts for a 6 percent growth rate for third-quarter GDP, which measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United States.

This news comes on the heels of a Quinnipiac University poll showing a vast majority of Americans care more about the economy than Iraq.

Only 39 percent of those surveyed were happy with how Bush has handled the economy. But 63 percent said they approved of his anti-terrorism policies.

Sixty-nine percent of voters said the economy would be the top issue on their minds when they vote next year, while 20 percent said the Iraq war would be their top issue.

Democratic presidential candidates now have some tough choices to make. They can continue to hammer away at Bush on the economy, which will make them look increasingly foolish (especially if we start to see real job growth). They can hammer away at Bush on deficit spending (but will have to offer a real reduction in government spending). They can hammer away at Bush on Iraq (and attempt to make it the important issue for more than 20 percent of Americans).

The immediate inclination will be to go after Bush’s deficit spending, but how credible can the candidates be without offering cuts to government programs? Sure, they can keep harping on ridding the country of tax cuts for the wealthy (and in some cases, the middle class), but I don’t think it’s going to play well if the economy keeps growing.