As the talk regarding elections, candidates, and the next president continues, I came across this article that I found to be very interesting (link is the title). In essence, this article addressed three numbers that are play prominent roles in determining the next president.
The first of the three numbers is the unemployment rate. Citizens will want to keep a president in office for a second term if he seems to be doing great things in terms of reducing unemployment and creating jobs and will perhaps want to more carefully consider other candidates if there seems to have been stagnant growth or even negative growth under the rule of the current president.
The second number is the price of gas. As someone who drives, I can relate to the importance this number plays in many people's lives. For some, commute is inescapable and perhaps a daily undertaking. This number directly impacts our lives on a day-to-day basis, so increased prices throughout a presidency can potentially foreshadow changes in the way citizens vote.
Finally, the third number is the Dow Jones average. I remember a mention about how the president has very little control over the economy, but what happens to the economy directly impacts the way voters view the president.
Friday, January 20, 2012
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Although those three numbers may be good indicators of the economic situation, they are in no way good indicators of a president's merit. Does a president affect what businesses lay off workers? Does a president collude with the oil companies to change prices? Does a president affect what Dow Jones is doing? I think the answer is no, yet one could always make the argument that the president indirectly affects everything that goes on in America via his policy making. We need to take at least some of the blame off the president when economic times are bad. However, this means that we also can't praise the president just because unemployment is down or the stock market is soaring.
Let's start to look for better indicators of a president's valor and ability to lead. Are his policies beneficial to the American people? Is he not just in it for his own good, or for the women? (sorry Gingrich, Clinton and every other politician that can't keep his pants on)
There are so many factors that we must look at to say whether or not a president is valuable and I find it hard to believe that three numbers could ever do the trick.
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