Pollsters: Modern History Shows Obama Can't Win in 2012

Sunday, 28 Aug 2011 05:51 PM
By David A. Patten

President Barack Obama will have to re-write the political history books if he hopes to win re-election, political strategists say.

The latest bad news for Team Obama: Economic growth for the second quarter was revised downward from 1.3 to a mere 1 percent on Friday -- far below the level of activity required to put a dent in the nation’s chronic, high joblessness.

Those slumping GDP numbers followed an economic-outlook report by the Congressional Budget Office that likely touched off alarm bells in Obama’s campaign. Despite optimistic assumptions about GDP growth, inflation, and deficit-spending, the CBO projected U.S. unemployment to be at or above 8.5 percent through the fourth quarter of 2012.

That means President Obama will have to earn a return engagement to the White House under virtually unprecedented circumstances. And he’ll likely have to alter his campaign strategy to do it.

“It becomes a game changer,â€