"...I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president..."
President Lyndon Johnson, March 31, 1968
Take a look at the White House's "Economic Assumptions" (Page 13) from its Economic and Budget Analyses accompanying the new budget presentation to Capitol Hill earlier today. The forecast civilian unemployment rate falls only to 8.2% in 2012. Lest you miss my point, 2012 is a presidential election year!
When we un-elected Jimmy Carter in 1980, his highest unemployment rate had been 7.6%, with a 6.7% average for his entire term. Even Ronald Reagan's was higher, though we also saw the greatest decrease ever during his term of office. Even George W. Bush -- the so-called 'failed' president, according to the current administration -- oversaw an average unemployment rate under 6%.
I can't, for the life of me, figure out how or even why the Obamans can try to lay the blame for 4 years of the highest Post-WWII unemployment ever on a previous administration which suffered a rate barely half of their their own.
So, will Barack Obama see the handwriting on the wall predicted by his own White House staff (frankly, he doesn't seem like much of a wall-reader, to me) and not seek re-election, or will he go down disclaiming the historically lousy economy he oversaw? Because, really, I very much doubt Americans will volunteer for a second round.
