As the economy hums along at what many economists consider full employment and the stock market continues to tick up, Republicans aren't getting much of a bump in their quest to salvage control of Congress.
That's probably because the stock market isn't a major factor for most Americans trying to pay their monthly bills. What counts? How high their wage is and whether they can afford food, gas, housing, and health care on that salary. As CNBC's John Harwood writes:
In a recent survey for the Democratic Senate campaign, [pollster Geoff] Garin asked voters across 13 Senate battleground states which set of economic facts is most important: big increases in jobs and middle-class tax cuts, or wages not keeping up with inflation and health costs. A 62 percent majority — including 91 percent of Democrats, 72 percent of independents and 34 percent of Republicans — chose the latter.
That's probably why poll after poll has shown that Democrats and independents rate health care as either their No. 1 or No. 2 concern. Affordability is a central pocketbook issue for them and Republicans have done absolutely nothing but take swipes at Obamacare that have driven up premiums.
That's left the GOP, after two years of unified control of the federal government, with nothing to run on but a scorched-earth fear-and-smear strategy.
"If the Republicans had a compelling economic story to tell, they'd be telling it," Garin told Harwood. "It's not because they haven't thought of it. It's because it doesn't work."
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