MICHELE NORRIS, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
As we've heard, the economy turned out to be a major issue for voters in New Hampshire yesterday. According to exit polls, 98 percent of Democrats and 80 percent of Republicans are worried about it.
And that's making this election feel very familiar for NPR senior news analyst Daniel Schorr.
DANIEL SCHORR: This is not a new phenomenon. In 1992, Clinton political strategist James Carville enriched the lexicon of politics by hanging a sign in Clinton's Little Rock office that read, the economy, stupid. That year, the first president, George Bush, was soaring in the polls after the victorious Gulf War but lost the election to Bill Clinton because America fell into a recession. That lesson has been burned into the memories of politicians ever since.
Now, it may be getting to economy stupid time again. In 2006, the Iraq war helped Democrats to make gains in Congress. And it was widely assumed that this time, the war, and not the pocket book, would again be the leading issue in the campaign. But then, the war began to look a little better and the economy began to look a little worse, and now, with unemployment up and other indicators down, the emphasis may be shifting back to the economy.
The best indication of that is the way President Bush is backing all of his (unintelligible) assurances that the fundamentals were in good shape and there was no reason to worry. The president admitted to a group of business leaders in Chicago on Monday that the country faces economic challenges spurred by the mortgage crisis, high oil prices and the weakening job market. Ever so cautiously, Mr. Bush has started talking about the possibility for an economic stimulus package, about which h would design, in time for his last State of the Union address.
But the nature of that package - tax cuts versus measures targeted for the middle class - is likely to lead to a battle royale with congressional Democrats that could dominate the burgeoning election campaign. Mr. Bush acknowledged that many Americans are anxious about the economy. What he did not say is what many Republican politicians, including candidates, are anxious about a possible recession as November election approaches. The (unintelligible) mantra resonates today.
This is Daniel Schorr.