If the 2012 Election is Framed as 'Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?' Then Obama is Going to Lose

A great piece from Jay Cost, at The Weekly Standard, "Obama's Troubled Reelection Strategy" (via Memeorandum):

This, put simply, is Barack Obama’s problem. If the 2012 election is framed on “are you better off than you were four years ago?,” then he is going to lose. His record on the economy, the deficit, energy policy, and health care are all very unpopular.

So, Obama’s objective is to get the country to think about other things. In particular, he has of late employed a series of gimmicks to induce the country to conceive of Mitt Romney in the above terms. The whole “war on women” is exactly along those lines, as is the Buffett Rule. Both speak to the core strategy – Romney is a conservative radical and tool of big business who wants to deprive women of birth control and help only the rich get richer.