I think it is fair to say the Democrats are missing their old Bill Clinton/James Carville campaign team. Remember when Clinton was running for President the first time, and Carville had those signs all over their campaign headquarters saying: "It's the economy, stupid." Clinton would get caught up in one of his bimbo scandals, and Carville would succeed in getting America (and especially the American media) focused, not on Clinton's indiscretions, but on the economy. They made it stick; the media went along with hook line and sinker; and Clinton won.
Well, this year the Democrats are desperately trying to get America's voters to think about anything but George W. Bush, and they especially want to go back to the good-old-days where they talk about a bad economy. The "talking points" sent out to loyal followers, including the New York Times, by the Democratic National Committee urge their followers, and especially the media, to talk about nothing but the slow economy. But this time it's backfiring. Example: the Democrats have talked incessantly about unemployment lines. They got an editorial cartoon in Dayton, Ohio, of people in an unemployment line and one person is saying "United We Stand." Our local paper ran it, not once but twice: October and October 6. And what happens? The unemployment rate did not go up; it went down ... the economy improved, and the media reported it. If Clinton and Carville had been running the Democrat campaign I'll guarantee you THAT would never have happened.
This is Gordon Sawyer, and may the wind always be at your back.