Economy lifts Bush in 2004

Here’s Robert Samuelson in today’s WashPost: “Cycling to 2004”

The U.S. economy seems to have just voted for George Bush. Almost all recent indicators favor the president's reelection: economic growth, rising at a 7.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter; jobs, increasing 286,000 since August; productivity, advancing at roughly a 5 percent rate since late 2001. Nariman Behravesh, chief economist for the forecasting firm Global Insight, has one of those equations that predict election results based on the economy and various political factors (incumbency, party affiliation). By the latest reports, Bush wins 56.6 percent of the 2004 vote.

And here’s more bad news for the Dems: Jobless Claims Fall

Jobless claims fell in the United States last week, the government said Thursday, as the labor market continued its slow recovery from a long slump.

Getting better.