There’s no question that the U.S. economy is booming. Why isn’t this reflected in President’s Bush poll ratings? Why would Americans think that John Kerry would do anything but ruin the economy? Kerry: the King of All Waflers; the most liberal member of the Senate. He proposes increasing taxes by $700 billion over the next 10 years. Kerry plans to stifle the American economic engine. Faced with good economic news, just what are Americans thinking?

Boom Times
Yesterday, the Conference Board reported that U.S. consumer confidence reached its best level in two years. 248,000 new American jobs were created in May. April’s reading of 288,000 new jobs was adjusted upward to 346,000, while March’s numbers were revised up to 353,000 from 308,000. Almost one million new jobs have been created in just the last three months. American wallets are getting fatter. Worker’s hourly wages rose 0.3% in May, making for two months straight of gains. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 4.2% during the first three months of 2004, and was revised upward to 4.4%. U.S. manufacturing activity is very strong.

The Disconnect
Despite the good news, an opinion poll conducted June 21-23 by Gallup showed that, “when Americans are asked who would better handle the economy,” 53% said Kerry while only 40% said Bush. That’s the bad news. There is a good but contradictory silver lining. According to Gallup,

There is positive news in the latest poll for Bush in relationship to the public's view of the economy. The president's approval rating on handling the economy has gone from 41% across the last three polls to 47% in the June 21-23 poll. At the same time, the percentage of Americans who disapprove of his handling of the economy has dropped from 58% to 50%. That's the lowest disapproval rating for Bush on the economy since late January of this year. …

In historical context, this economic rating puts Bush close to the economic ratings Bill Clinton received at this point in 1996 -- 49% -- and much better than the position of his father in 1992, when the elder Bush's approval rating on the economy was right around the 20% level.

Maybe Americans are seeing the economy through Iraq-colored glasses. Gallup found that 51% of Americans said the Iraq war was not worth the effort, while 46% said it was. Paradoxically, 58% felt the war was not a mistake, while 41% felt it was. Americans are evenly split as to who would do a better job in Iraq. Bush leads Kerry by a wide margin in Americans’ opinion of who would do a better job in the war on terror. Bush’s job approval rating has hovered around 48% for four months, probably due to a string of gaffes like Fallujah, Muqtada al-Sadr, the 9/11 Commission (circus), and prisoner abuse at Abu Gharib.

With the media censoring much of the good news coming out of Iraq, its easy to see why Americans would have their innate optimism worn down. If you tell people they’re dogs enough times, they’ll probably start barking. As the good economic news keeps coming, more and more people find jobs, and paychecks get bigger, the good people of the U.S. will realize that Bush is the better man for president.