The last time this happened, voters didn’t credit Bill Clinton. That may be a bad omen, or a good one.

If the stock market chose presidents, Joe Biden would be a shoo-in for reelection in 2024. The market rallied this month amid growing optimism about the economy, with the S&P 500 zooming 1.9 percent Tuesday on news that the consumer price index rose only 3.2 percent in October (compared to 3.7 percent in September). Stocks rallied again Wednesday on news that the producer price index fell 0.5 percent. Commentators are no longer debating whether the economy will experience a “soft landing” (i.e., a reduction in inflation without recession). The only question now is when it will arrive. The S&P 500 seems to have decided it’s already here.

But the stock market doesn’t choose presidents. Voters do, and polls continue to show they think the economy is in terrible shape. A Financial Times–Michigan Ross Nationwide Survey conducted November 2–7 is absolutely brutal on this point.

  • ArugulaZ
    link
    fedilink
    421 year ago

    The Democrats’ propaganda game is miserable in 2023. The big difference is that Clinton promoted himself effectively. Remember when George Stephenopolous called George HW Bush on Larry King’s show back in 1992, just to humiliate him? Remember Clinton’s bulldog communications officer, James Carville? Back in the 1990s, Democrats knew how to puff up their accomplishments and tear down their opponents. Now, they’re too timid to try. Time to drop this pathetic facade of objectivity and civility and fight, HARD. Their lives as a political party depend on it. OUR lives depend on it.

    • @Dkarma
      link
      341 year ago

      I never thought I’d see the day when carville is propped up as the paradigm of what a Democrat should be.

      Bernie Sanders is what a Democrat should be and he’s been fighting basically alone since the 60s.

      You’re right about their messaging tho. This is a direct reflection of rejecting the progressive wing which is mostly young people.

      If the Dems would get their shit together and brace the next generation thos would be no contest.

      • Orbituary
        link
        201 year ago

        It’s not that Carville is a hero. It’s just that he did what our current Dems won’t. I wish our team would be half as aggressive as the GOP. We would have a more solid standing with less effort. “Humans > corporations.” Done.

        • subignition
          link
          fedilink
          81 year ago

          I don’t think most of the establishment actually believes that, is the problem.

          • Orbituary
            link
            41 year ago

            They don’t. But you answer the problem in your statement when you say “the establishment.”

            It should be abolished somehow.

            • subignition
              link
              fedilink
              31 year ago

              I am hopeful that with things like unionization movements gaining steam, and the ease of communication of social media, that some capable young people will be spurred into running for office this decade. It really needs to be a grassroots movement IMO.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          51 year ago

          Their donors with deep pockets don’t like that message, best we can do is Humans >= Corporations.

          • Orbituary
            link
            71 year ago

            It’s not popular to say, but when people like Pelosi who make millions on insider trading stay in office for decades, it’s not because of their policy. It’s how much money they generate for the party.

            I want a party for the people which protects our rights to healthcare, education, housing, wages, and food. The rest is up to us.

            • Semi-Hemi-Demigod
              link
              fedilink
              21 year ago

              Also because committee memberships are determined by how long you’ve been in office. Hence Feinstein.

        • @Ensign_Crab
          link
          English
          41 year ago

          I wish our team would be half as aggressive as the GOP.

          They are. They just direct that aggression at the left of their own party instead of to the right.

          “Humans > corporations.” Done.

          Not in Carville’s party.

    • arquebus_x
      link
      fedilink
      111 year ago

      The Democrats have been bringing spoons to a gunfight since the 70s.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      51 year ago

      The current Democratic party doesn’t want to fight. It’s pathetic, and it is difficult to vote for “pathetic” even when the alternative is… well… you know.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      31 year ago

      You mean there is a flaw to the strategy of repeating, “listen, Jack, the economy has never been better, and you’re an idiot if you don’t see that”?