For all the Romney/Ryan efforts to convince Americans the economy is getting worse, reality stubbornly keeps getting in the way.
Groundbreaking on new homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, a sign the housing sector's budding recovery is gaining traction and supporting the wider economic recovery. [...]
The U.S. economy has shown signs of faster growth in recent months as the jobless rate has fallen and retail sales data has pointed to stronger consumer spending.
The data showed housing, which was battered by the 2007-09 recession, is increasingly one of the brighter spots in the economy and could add to growth this year for the first time since 2005.
This morning's report was surprisingly good -- no one saw news this good coming -- and points to an economy that's picking up steam.
Indeed, keep in mind the economic news we discussed yesterday. The unemployment rate is at its best point in four years; consumer confidence is at its best point in five years; the federal budget deficit is at its best point in four years. Just this week, reports on retail sales, industrial production, and new housing construction showed sharp and unexpected improvements.
This probably isn't what Republicans wanted to hear.
To be sure, there's a school of thought that suggests Americans economic impressions were locked in months ago -- there are chunks of the population that likely decided "Obama presidency = bad economy," and will overlook the encouraging new data.
But for voters who are still paying attention and who consider the economy an important election issue, the Romney/Ryan argument that the economy's getting worse is now literally unbelievable. All of those folks who were eager recently to delve into the "are we better off than we were four years ago" question might want to take another look at where the economy currently stands.
To reiterate a point from yesterday, the Obama team's caution on this is understandable. Unemployment is still high and economic growth is still sluggish, and the last thing those struggling most want to hear from a politician is the how much better things are. Much of the country is still deeply frustrated with the status quo, and reject the idea that it's "morning in America."
But with every new report showing better and better economic news, the president will be missing a major opportunity if he fails to take advantage of the news: after inheriting the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the president took the lead in saving the nation. Nearly four years after taking office, by literally every relevant metric, the nation's economy is stronger and more secure than it was when he started.
