Can the Economy Save Obama?

Democrats will tell you that the economy was what really hammered them in this election cycle. But will the conditions be the same in 2012? Economists say, not really. While slow growth is the main expectation of 2011, economists say that there will be better growth and job market improvements in 2012, which may help the president's reelection. Unemployment is at 9.6 percent, and is expected to just be over 9 next year. The long term outlook is better: at least 8.1 percent on Election Day 2012, with some going so far as to say 7 percent by then. That, to me, is kind of a stretch. I  think you are far more likely to see it in the 8 percent region during the election, I would say around 8.5 or higher. Although, that still may be no help to him, in my mind. He has presided over an anemic economy so long that by this point there's nothing he can really say or do. It would take a miracle, friends and neighbors.