Incumbents of both parties ask to be rewarded for a general sense that things are on the right track. Beneath this mask, we are in the midst of the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression . And we who are in this country are beginning to feel its effects. Profits are down. Exports are down.
Capital investment is down.
Consumer confidence is down. Unemployment is up. Layoffs are up. Manufacturing jobs are being lost. Therefore, the Congress that gets elected on the basis of the growth of the past will have to deal with the slowdown and the recession of the present.