Top Democrats are starting to get concerned. Their hysterical assertions that Republican governors who gradually reopened their economies would have "blood on their hands" proved to be hysterical assertions. And now Democrats worry about the prospect of a strong economic recovery.
Politico reports that Barack Obama's former economic adviser, Jason Furman, has been terrifying Democratic colleagues with predictions that the next few months could bring "the best economic data we've seen in the history of this country." The downside of millions of Americans rejoining the workforce, Democrats fear, is that President Donald Trump could take credit in the final weeks of his reelection campaign.
Furman has been making his case to Democratic policymakers who served in the Clinton and Obama administrations, as well as senior members of Joe Biden's presidential campaign. Many are understandably panicking at the thought of the American economy starting to rebound.
"This is my big worry," a former Obama White House official told Politico, adding that positive economic data heading into November was a "high, high, high, high," concern among Democratic Party leaders. The official said a growing economy was the biggest challenge for the Biden campaign and said, "If they can’t figure this out they should all just go home."
Biden's campaign is reportedly "very much aware" of the devastating impact a booming economy could have on Democratic politicians. Recent polling suggests that, even amidst the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic, Trump is still viewed as the better candidate when it comes to handling the economy.
Still, some Democrats are choosing to look on the bright side. "In absolute terms, the economy will look historically terrible come November," said Democratic strategist Kenneth Baer. Sen. Chris Coons (Del.) was also optimistic. "It seems pretty unlikely to me that we’re going to have a really robust recovery in the next few months," he said. "Of course, we all hope there will be."
Perhaps that's true. It just doesn't jibe with much of the political commentary and media coverage these days, which seems to root for bad news and get perplexed by good news. MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace reflected the sentiment of many by celebrating the "silver lining" of the deadly pandemic: It makes Trump look bad.