GOP governors say the economy is great. Romney campaign says the economy is terrible. Can't be both

[Igel]

1. Why not?

The OP says as much. Some states have low unemployment. Economy's improving well. Perhaps not "great", but in a political campaign hyperbole is de rigueur. On both sides.

Nationwide the economy's not doing all that well. Economy's growing at rates that under * we decried as miserable and pathetic. There are all kinds of fantasy "if pigs could fly, look how good things would be!" scenarios out to try to say it's not as sucky as it is.

Houston's unemployment is low. Not as low as 4 years ago, but around 2 percentage points lower than the national economy. The (D) mayor says the economy's good--and she's right. Probably not because of anything she's done in the last couple of years. Such things are secular, not short-term.

Best to see through the over-the-top rhetoric and try to stay focused on whatever facts are around. It's also typically a good idea to figure out if a statement is true when taken as the speaker intended before saying that the person's knowingly trying to deceive you.