Obama’s 2.5 Percent Stall

[Michie]

Wall Street headlines are full of fears of a springtime stall for the already subpar economic recovery. And if that weren’t bad enough for Obama’s re-election chances, a spate of new polls show Mitt Romney’s economic-approval ratings are far outdistancing the president’s.

Even while the headline surveys basically show an Obama-Romney tossup, it will be very difficult for Obama to pull out a victory this fall.

Traditionally, incumbents who poll below 50 percent are in trouble. And with Obama consistently in the mid-40s, he has a tough uphill climb ahead.

Of course, a subpar recovery has kept the president’s re-election hopes in doubt for some time. Former Bush economist Ed Lazear calls it the worst recovery in history. OK. That may be a partisan shot. But actually, the data points bear this out.

At roughly 2.5 percent growth, the Obama recovery is way below the 4.5 percent average since World War II. And within Obama’s 2.5 percent economy, polling data show high voter anxiety over gas prices, home values and the ability to pay mortgages. Voters even worry that they won’t be able to afford to send their kids to college.

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