76% think country going in the wrong direction. Does that mean recovery is the "wrong" direction?

[BKH70041]

10. Because what they hear and what they're experiencing are two different things.

Some have touched on it here, but they allow their ideology to take them too far.

Forget all those who would say it's because the leaders aren't "progressive" enough. That's a pant load they want to believe and they want others to believe. And most people aren't into class warfare or climate change or any of the other 20 dozens issues that, if you only read this site and those like it, you would think they're all top priority. Believe that nonsense to your own peril.

People vote their wallets. It's the economy, stupid.

For example, unemployment may be at 5.9%. But for every 1 person I know who's become re-employed in the last six months, I know 3 people who have been unemployed for so long they've fallen off the statistical chart and aren't even counted. And of the ones who have been hired after having no job for a while, most have gone back in a maybe half of what they were making before. I worked the floor at the NYSE after I got my Master's and still keep up with several of my old acquaintances. They'll tell you conservative estimates of real unemployment is more like 12%-15%, and that's not counting the number of people forced to move from full-time to part-time work. It's not pretty.

I could keep going with other examples of things people point to and say "These are signs things are going well," and they really aren't. But I don't have a lot of time tonight.

Who's the president? Obama? When things are going good, they get the credit. When they're not, they get the blame. Despite the "numbers" that would say things are going good, things really aren't going all that great. Ergo, he gets the blame.

So Americans, do what they always do; they say "Let's try the other guys and see if they can do any better."