Trump’s Midnight Rants Face Rude Awakening: Stunning New Jobs Report

At the time, pundits robotically cited Mitt Romney’s superior economic numbers as proof Obama was doomed. But Obama advisers believed economic disapproval of him largely registered dissatisfaction with the status quo and that the “Who’s on your side?” comparison would ultimately enable Obama to neutralize Romney on the issue. And they were right. The comparison between 2012 and 2024 is admittedly imperfect, but in one narrow sense it may prove apt: Then, as now, technical economic approval numbers may not be determinative after all.

Trump could still win this race, as it remains very close. The sort of undecided, low-propensity voter who is still out there does remember Trump’s economy fondly and doesn’t hold him accountable for the Covid-fueled economic catastrophe of his last year. Perversely, this remains a big reason for persistent voter sourness on the economy right now. All of that unquestionably remains a major hurdle for Harris.

But if she can persuade remaining swing voters that the Harris economy of the future is not the Biden economy of the present—or, at least, the one that many voters perceive—and that it is superior to, well, whatever it is Trump is telling us he’ll do, then she can win. The new jobs report suggests the pieces are falling into place for her to do just that.