Clever, but a few problems do present themselves. For one thing, it looks like Dick Gephardt might be guilty too. So maybe Daschle would acknowledge Clinton's inappropriate use of the R word today. But there is also a far more interesting question behind all of this. What is more interesting is the very idea of consumer confidence itself.
Confidence truly is a key to understanding the market.
Capitalism, you see, is very strange. A great deal of the economic activity of participants in the market depends almost entirely on their expectations of what the future will bring. These expectations determine present activity on the market, and therefore also in large part the future condition of the economy. When we expect good times, we invest and take risks and venture to attempt new things. These investments and risks and ventures then help to bring growth and good times.