100,000 a month, the American people appear to be growing more confident in both the economy and the president. On Tuesday, the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence surged to a seven-month high, trouncing economists' expectations. Respondents in particular had a more favorable view of the job market going forward -- with more consumers expecting employers to add positions in the coming months. The recovery seems to have jelled with voters, too. A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that 40 percent of respondents think the country is on the right track, up from 23 percent a year ago. Moreover, 31 percent of respondents described the economy as very or fairly good, up from 14 percent a year ago. Just as opinions about the economy have driven opinions about the campaign, it seems that opinions about the campaign are driving opinions about the economy. Democrats have become much more optimistic, pulling the national numbers up with them. A new Pew poll , for instance, shows that just 15 percent of Democrats say that recent economic news is mostly bad, while 60 percent of Republicans say the same. A year ago, they held similar opinions. "Right now, politics is playing an inordinately large role in the behavioral economic data," wrote Lydia Saad and Dennis Jacobe, of Gallup, in an analysis of the surge in consumer confidence . "This suggests that the period between now and the election is a particularly hazardous time to apply traditional behavioral economic and political interpretations