The U.S. economy's weak first-quarter growth: Trouble for Obama?

How will a disappointing, if not disastrous, dip in growth affect the election-year sparring over the economy?

President Obama speaks to University of Colorado students about college loans
(Image credit: Tristan Spinski/Corbis Images/Corbis)

U.S. economic growth slowed to a rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012, down from 3 percent in the last three months of 2011, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Economists had been expecting firmer growth of around 2.5 percent. Financial analysts say there's "nothing catastrophic" in the numbers, but will this derail the Obama re-election campaign's attempts to assure voters that the economy is back on the right track?

Obama's re-election pitch just got weaker: This undermines the White House's "we're on the right track" spiel, says Ed Morrissey at Hot Air. Growth of 2.2 percent "won't be a disaster on the stump," but it looks like we're in for "another Stagnant Spring." If so, President Obama won't win any votes by bringing up the state of the economy. So brace yourselves: Democrats will be to talking a lot about "dog carriers and condoms in the weeks ahead."

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