Hold the Mayo

May 21, 2005

Bad Economic News For The Democrats

Democrats are probably regretting the lesson they learned from Bill Clinton: “It's the economy stupid.” Judicial nominations, Senate rule changes are great issues to rile up the base, but they are your people already. On thing the last election had to teach them - if they were willing to learn - is that their base is not enough.

They know, however, that what drives elections is the economy, followed closely by national security. Those are the issues where a party can win over voters in the middle and a few from the other side as well. The rest is all noise for the faithful.

So this bit of of news can't be going down well.

The dollar rose a fourth consecutive week against the euro on speculation the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates while the European Central Bank will be forced by a weak regional economy to hold or even cut rates.
``You've got a yield play in favor of the dollar and you've got some stability issues in Europe,'' said Enrico Caruso, chief trader at currency hedge fund Tempest Asset Management in Newport Beach, California. The dollar's four-week gain ``has been orderly but there's going to be a breaking point soon,'' where it will rise even faster, he said.
The dollar also advanced this week against the yen, British pound and Swiss franc on speculation the three-year bear market for the U.S. currency is over. Economic reports next week will show a recovery in U.S. orders for durable goods and that gross domestic product expanded more last quarter than previously estimated, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

That darn economic recovery that they weren't able to convince voters wasn't happen just keeps rolling along. In fact, it has probably reached the point where we don't have to call it a recovery anymore. We have recovered and we have a strong growing economy. That's not good for news for the Democrats with the 2006 elections right around the corner.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 06:45 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment

1 That was both particularly interesting and something I have not seen reported elsewhere. Thanks!

Posted by: RP at May 22, 2005 06:21 AM (LlPKh)

2 Interesting points. You might consider the facts that Americans see on a daily basis, however: Rising gas prices, executive blustering on the crisis in our social security system, and good money being thrown after bad in our Iraq boondoggle. If the Democratic party wasn't still running scared after the '04 elections, I'd say they might have some kind of a leg to stand on in '06.

Posted by: Just in Time at May 22, 2005 04:26 PM (IinQz)

3 Justin,

Yes gas prices are higher. And yes the War on Terror is expensive. But here's the kicker - we're still posting strong economic numbers.

I'm not surprised they are running scared.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at May 22, 2005 04:41 PM (ics4u)

4 I have to say that I agree, Stephen, though it pains me to do so. Economic numbers are looking up, and thank God for that; I'm not suggesting we stab the country in the back just because I despise our Executive branch at the moment. The real problem with the Democratic party is that they've been hijacked just as much as the Republican party has. This is my point of view, and my rationalization for the argument that The Democrats Are Dead:

The GOP tactic of Constant Slanderous Talking Points worked, but not in the way that I think they predicted. Rather than catching the ear of the nation, it's my belief that they so thoroughly beat the point into the ground that the Democrats themselves started to take it to heart. Ergo, after hearing the term "liberal left" about ten million times, it seems like a wonderful idea to take some insane monkey like Howard Dean and put him at the forefront of the party. Why? Because he presents the common view of the Democratic party as the "liberal left" in an oddly charismatic way, energizing the reactionists on the left and those who see the Republican Party as "the enemy." Since this power base is so vocal, they actually deluded themselves into thinking that they had a strong level of support in '04. And now, they're stuck with the image they've put forth, no matter how badly they want to return to a more moderate standpoint (and I do desperately hope that that is what they want, or all hope may be lost.)

I'm sorry. We were talking about economics, and I ran off on some wild tangent. I'm tempted to not even post this, but that goes against my core tenet of never letting mental effort go to waste. So... Apologies to anyone who read through this entire rant. Had to get that out though.

Posted by: Just in Time at May 24, 2005 04:41 PM (IinQz)

5 Sorry again, forgot my closing point:
The Democratic party is doomed, they are no longer seen as the party of the working man, but rather the party of the gay leftist potheads and babykillers. The problem is, is the Republican party really the party of the working man? I don't think so. Economic numbers may be up- are, rather; I don't dispute the point- but can anyone give me numbers on the level of low-paying wage jobs versus high-paying jobs and compare them to six years ago? I don't have the numbers, but I've got a strong suspicion that the lower class is getting screwed out of their representation in our government, and so therefore overlooked. Call me paranoid if you will, just back it up with numbers.
(Also, you might want to take into account the high price of medical care and what that does to the average McDonald's employee.)

Posted by: Just in Time at May 24, 2005 04:58 PM (IinQz)

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