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A quote from David Plouffe, a senior advisor to President Obama, has been making the rounds over the last couple of days, but the context of the comment makes a big difference.
Here’s the quote: “The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers. People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on, ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?’”
White House critics, on the left and right, expressed immediate outrage, arguing that Plouffe seemed unconcerned about unemployment. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus proclaimed, “[L]et me be clear, voters will hear Plouffe’s out-of-touch jobs comment every day until Election Day.”
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, “If David Plouffe were working for me, I would fire him and then he could experience firsthand the pain of unemployment.”
And if there’s one thing Mitt Romney knows all about, it’s firing people. (And isn’t this the guy who thinks unemployment is funny?)
Nevertheless, Greg Sargent published the full transcript of Plouffe’s comment, delivered at a Bloomberg breakfast earlier this week. It’s worth considering for context.
“[Y[ou know, we’re a long way from 2012. We’re a long way from knowing what’s going on in the world and exactly what the economy is and who are opponent is.
“I would make a general statement, though, because there is a lot of attention focused on the unemployment rate. The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers.
“In fact, those terms very rarely pass their lips. So it’s a very one-dimensional view. They view the economy through their own personal prism. You see, people’s — people’s attitude towards their own personal financial situation has actually improved over time. You know, they’re still concerned about the long-term economic future of the country, but it’s things like ‘My sister was unemployed for six months and was living in my basement and now she has a job.’
“There’s a — a ‘help wanted’ sign. You know, the local diner was a little busier this week. Home Depot was a little busier. These are the ways people talk about the economy. They don’t talk about it in the terms of Washington.
“And so their decision next year will be based upon two things, ‘Okay, how do I feel about things right now?’ and then, ultimately, campaigns are always much more about the future, and, ‘Who do I think has got the best idea, the best vision for where to take the country?’
“I would submit to you that a healthy percentage of Americans, far more than a majority, believe the president has a very sound vision for where the country needs to go.
“So, you know, people won’t vote based on the unemployment rate. They’re gonna vote based on, ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?’”
Your mileage may vary, but this doesn’t strike me as a guy with a blithe attitude about those desperately looking for work. In context, it seems pretty clear Plouffe is talking about voter attitudes when it comes to the specific unemployment rate as determined by the Department of Labor.
And I suspect he’s likely correct. I don’t have empirical data handy on this, but based on nothing but my perceptions, I’d say typical voters know if their personal economy — their household, their friends and family, their community — is faring well or poorly. Folks probably doesn’t know whether the unemployment rate is 9.2% or 8.7%, because the specific technical, numerical detail is less important than the larger perception.
I suppose Plouffe could have chosen his words a little more carefully, but I don’t see the scandal here.
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zeitgeist on July 08, 2011 3:58 PM:
I don't see the scandal here
Which is why you aren't a Republican operative, Steve.
They see the scandal everywhere.
stevio on July 08, 2011 4:03 PM:
I suppose Plouffe could have chosen his words a little more carefully, but I don’t see the scandal here.
The scandal is that his lips moved and they didn't form words that the GOP want to hear.
DAY on July 08, 2011 4:05 PM:
Yeah, but, zeitgeist, the 'murrican pipple', when asked about it, will say, "Who is David Plouffe?"
And next week NOBODY will remember any of this.
Danp on July 08, 2011 4:06 PM:
A majority don't care what the unemployment rate is. What they care about is whether Brian Williams, et. al. say it's a huge number or nothing new. I truly believe that the majority can't distinguish between a fact and a conclusion, and certainly a majority is too uninformed to form a qualified conclusion. And isn't that just the way Brian Williams et. al. intend it?
September on July 08, 2011 4:09 PM:
Zeitgeist, minor correction: "Republican Operative *or* work for Jane Hamsher."
But then again, what's the difference?
T2 on July 08, 2011 4:14 PM:
I disagree on the issue of whether the public knows the unemployment rate. I think they do and I think the GOP and the Media will scream 9.2% as loud and as long as they can. And people will know that 9.2% is a whole lot more than it was a few years (Clinton's) ago. It will be a major part of the GOP campaign, and you can doubt that at your own peril. If the rate was 5%, the GOP would be screaming about that too, and the Media would have John McCain on to remind us how great it was when it was 3.9% and what a failure Obama is.
SYSPROG on July 08, 2011 4:18 PM:
These flippin' MORONS! With one side of their mouths they say the economy is like 'sitting around your kitchen table' and paying bills and when Plouffe says it in a more sophisticated way they are OUTRAGED I tell you OUTRAGED. Preibus is a little dweeb that drools when he's sucking up to his masters...Why can't ANYBODY go eyeball to eyeball with these sucks and make them accountable for their rhetoric?
Danp on July 08, 2011 4:20 PM:
I disagree on the issue of whether the public knows the unemployment rate.
The majority don't even know how many towers collapsed at the WTC on 9/11. We're not all that big on details.
beachmom on July 08, 2011 4:20 PM:
Don't forget housing, though. I overall agree with Plouffe, but it's really the housing slump that makes people feel poorer. Not only that, but with property values so low, that means less money for local governments and less money for schools. Where I live, the economy is doing okay, but the housing market still stinks. I think the President and his team should address this issue more often. It's a problem that inflicts pain even on the fully employed.
TheOtherJim on July 08, 2011 4:22 PM:
A Democrat said something. Some clever Republican figured out a way to frame it to suggest that it was either malevolent or showed how out-of-touch Plouffe is.
In my opinion, Plouffe is spot on, and the Republican's reaction shows just how out of touch they are.
Fang on July 08, 2011 4:24 PM:
This is also part of the bumper-sticker approach to politics. It's easy to quote mine when people assume quotes are all that is said.
Dylan on July 08, 2011 4:26 PM:
I didnt think the abridged version of the quote was that big a deal to begin with. I think people are going out of their way to make the quote criticism worthy.
Darsan 54 on July 08, 2011 4:33 PM:
This is a manufactured press scandal. Just trying to get the audience to follow you with something taken completely out of context. And it's all media which get caught in trying to follow an audience rather than build one.
Lifelong Dem on July 08, 2011 4:37 PM:
Explain to me, using small words, how Plouffe's quote was fundamentally different from "are you better off than you were four years ago?" That was Ronald Reagan's question in 1980.
Peter C on July 08, 2011 4:51 PM:
I'm so sick of 'Republican Outrage'. I just wish there were some vehicle for them to sit through some of mine. I'd like a way to give the Democratic leadership an earfull too. It is WAY TOO EASY for all of Washington to blithely ignore us and way too easy for them to hit the 'mute' button or the 'delete' key.
dr. bloor on July 08, 2011 4:58 PM:
Here's the deal:
"blah blah blah blah blah blah EXTRACTABLE SOUND BITE blah blah blah"
It's not a scandal, it's just rank stupidity. Don't give the other team bulletin board material.
Archon on July 08, 2011 5:02 PM:
That was considered a big deal? Seriously? When historians years from now talk about America's decline and it's reasons I'm sure the way the media treated our politics is going to be very high on the bullet point list.
PTate in Mn on July 08, 2011 5:18 PM:
If I were Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, I would be very, very careful about calling attention to WHO exactly is completely indifferent to the pain of unemployment and exactly WHO is calling for layoffs and protecting the rich at the expense of the middle-class.
But listen to the rhetoric! The Republicans have this Orwellian lexicon that they just spew whenever they can; "out-of-touch"is one of those phrases that we hear a lot (along with jobs-killing, jobs creator, and deficit.) They really are Masters of doublespeak.
Ray Waldren on July 08, 2011 5:21 PM:
How soon we forget -- Are you better off than you were four years ago... Who said that and how personal was that and enough American agreed with it to make Jimmy Carter a one term President.
mellowjohn on July 08, 2011 5:26 PM:
the only unemployment numbers people care about are 0% or 100%. you've either got a job or you don't.
Goldilocks on July 08, 2011 5:32 PM:
Plouffe's an election engineer. He didn't do too badly on his last gig, which suggests he has his finger on the pulse.
Of course, people vote mainly on their personal feelings rather than on astute policy discrimination. Plouffe's job is to penetrate and sense these feelings as accurately as possible. It's the science of human nature.
It would be wonderful if the electorate understood how political shenanigans determine how their situation is affected, but it ain't going to happen any day soon. It's hard enough for us cognoscenti to keep abreast of the tricks, deals and games that influence the macro-economic landscape - mainly to its detriment, through the fog of deception, fabrication, vested interests, ideological fixations and pig ignorance. There's not a snowball's hope in hell of the majority of the public having the faintest clue of the real causes of their particular plights.
And that's what Plouffe has to deal with. Maybe he would be wiser to keep his understanding of these things to himself.
Julene on July 08, 2011 5:38 PM:
I would agree that most people don't care what the numbers are and really do care about their personal situation. That given, the reality of a 9% unemployment rate means that there are a lot of people out there looking for work and a lot more people who are related to those people. Also, every single one of the people lucky enough to have jobs also know that their money isn't going as far. So be optimistic about that if you want, but it's not really going to be good for the incumbent if things don't get much, much better in the employment arena.
Chesire11 on July 08, 2011 5:43 PM:
Gee...Republicans...outraged again...yawn!
Seriously, Don Knotts was more well adjusted than that pack of wimps. They are they cranky, old crackpots that ranted and raved and got all outraged about flouride in the drinking water, and now instead of having their housed egged and trees TP'ed every Halloween, they're setting the national agenda.
Here's a fun little experiment...google the script to Dr. Strangelove and read General Ripper's lines and see if you can see any difference at all between his insane rants and anything you would hear on talk radio or from the Republican leadership...you can't.
Ron Byers on July 08, 2011 5:47 PM:
I have two adult kids looking for work, one of whom lost his house to forclosure. Right now I am only concerned about them finding jobs. If they find jobs then I will be a happy voter. if not, nobody in my family will be happy. I want my spare bedrooms back. By the way I am not alone out here. Lots and lots of people are taking care of family members out of work. Millions of people, in fact.
st john on July 08, 2011 6:05 PM:
@Ron Byers: "Lots and lots of people are taking care of family members out of work. Millions of people, in fact."
Seems to me that the point is that we take care of family. Those that argue otherwise, the Republicans, are sociopathic. And, we are all family. Even the Republicans that I judge harshly are part of my family. The questions is: how do I create an environment in which people see that we are all connected and thus responsible for the well-being of our family members? Doesn't it seem that when a large number of people in your neighborhood are out of work or underemployed and in financial trouble, they pose a threat to your own well-being? Desperate people do desperate things, and there are not enough police and military people to control desperate people. And, as the police and military become more desperate and fearful themselves, they will do one of two things: escalate their violence to protect themselves; or abandon their posts and blend in with the populace. This is already happening across the world among the popular uprisings. It will come to your neighborhood. How will you respond?
PeninsulaMatt on July 08, 2011 6:10 PM:
I think the average voter hears Plouffe's words and thinks, "yep, that's about right." It is why Plouffe did such a great job managing Obama's campaign in 2008; he gets people in a way that many political managers don't.
The problem for Plouffe and Obama in the next year and a half is that Obama is absolutely wrong on the policy. In 2008 he could claim that the Republicans want to continue Bush's failed policies but now it is hard to see much daylight between what Obama is proposing and what the Republicans are proposing. If anything, Obama seems to want to be seen as the guy who cut the budget even more than the Republicans wanted. That sort of short-term political gain will be long-gone by the time another year and a half of decreasing aggregate demand goes by. Any Democratic President should know that government spending should be counter-cyclical; where does the President and his team think demand is going to come from in this economy? What is he going to do when unemployment remains high month after month after month? How does he expect voters to think Obama has the right vision for the country when his economic policies will be shown to be ineffective?
Alli on July 08, 2011 7:36 PM:
Wow. I really liked what he said there. And Priebus? that's what the american people will hear from now until election day? LOL!!! Republicans are in big trouble.
CDW on July 08, 2011 7:59 PM:
It's understandable that the administration doesn't want to focus on jobs with such bad numbers coming in and not plan to fix it, but Plouffe's attitude is shortsighted at best. Voters will be talking about the unemployment rate if they're not now when the republicans start talking about the jobs deficit instead of the debt ceiling. Not to mention the 14.1 million people who are currently unemployed and their families who are already talking about it.
This is kind of a typical Obama way of thinking. Ignore it until it comes back and bites you in the behind. Or blame it on someone else like he's doing with the debt ceiling negotiations.
Bernard on July 09, 2011 12:24 AM:
more of the ME, ME, ME bs. this time from the Obama team. society is just an illusion.
as if unemployment didn't matter. People who have jobs spend money and pay taxes and make the economy hum. When did it become acceptable for the unemployed to be 'invisible".
voters notice things about the country, like jobs, wages and paying bills.
to say anything so insular and not care about your "brother" sure isn't a Christian or a pro society concept. i guess that is what i hear from this. a lack of concern for the "rest of us" that seems so Republican in nature. so Anti society.
ricardo on July 09, 2011 2:02 AM:
Guys - it's time to round up a primary challenger to Obama in 2012...Obama is going to lead the Democratic Party to historic losses in the next election cycle unless we get another candidate...I posted some time ago that "Obama's is a failed presidency," and that's even more evident after today's job report, and his hopeless deficit negotiations with the Repubs'.
Sorry to be cold-blooded about it, but identity politics demands another African American nominee, otherwise African Americans will sit out the election in November, 2012.
So how about Cory Booker? - smart guy, big city mayor (ie. he deals with sh*t every day), he shoveled walks in last winter's snowstorms while his neighbor, Mike Bloomberg, was chilling in Bermuda...I'm just putting it out there...
Anonymous on July 09, 2011 4:13 AM:
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus proclaimed, “[L]et me be clear, voters will hear Plouffe’s out-of-touch jobs comment every day until Election Day.”
Speaking of "out-of-touch"... where are the jobs your party promised, Priebus? Dems, that's your cue.