Can Obama convince voters they're better off than they were in 2008?

Romney wants voters to judge Obama on Reagan's classic "are you better off than you were four years ago?" metric. That's a question Dems may not welcome

President Obama
(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty images)

In Mitt Romney's big speech at the Republican National Convention last week, he conceded that while President Obama can say that he inherited a lousy economy, and can ask for Americans' patience, he simply "cannot tell us that you are better off today than when he took office." The Obama campaign begs to differ. After giving "halting and contradictory responses" to the are-you-better-off question on Sunday talk shows, says Jim Rutenberg in The New York Times, Team Obama came back Monday with a strong answer of "absolutely," pointing out that four years ago the economy was in free fall and GM and Chrysler were on the brink of being sold of for scrap metal. But a new poll for The Hill suggests Obama has a tough sales pitch at this week's convention: 52 percent of respondents said the U.S. is in "worse condition" than in September 2008, versus 31 percent who say it's better. Can Obama make a persuasive case that we are, in fact, better off?

This should be an easy sell for Obama: Republicans seem really keen on nailing Obama on this question, says Robert Schlesinger at U.S. News. "Please do, GOP. It's a trap." When Obama took office, the U.S. was shedding 800,000 jobs a month and the stock market was in a ditch. Now, thanks to Obama's policies, we're slowly but surely "digging out from George W. Bush's recession." Are we better off than we were four years ago? "The answer is a no-brainer yes, and I can't think of a better person or place to give that answer than Barack Obama on Thursday night."

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