David Winston: Obama & Reagan: No Comparison

David Winston is the president of The Winston Group and for over a decade has advised House and Senate Republican leadership.

Since Barack Obama took the oath of office, inside-the-Beltway Democrats have spent the first Friday of every month trying to answer one simple question, “Where are the jobs?” It’s becoming increasingly difficult to defend what is arguably one of the worst presidential economic records in modern history and put a positive spin on the president’s reelection prospects.

Democrats’ optimistic view of President Obama’s reelection chances seems to be based on the false notion that the president’s current dire political situation is analogous to President Reagan’s at this point in his presidency. As they try to conjure up a second round of hope, this time for 2012, their mantra has become, “Not to worry. Reagan’s unemployment numbers were this bad or worse in his first two years in office and he was reelected.”

They like to point to the fact that on election day, 1984, unemployment was at 7.2 percent; if President Obama can start to bend the unemployment figures down toward 8 percent, they figure, he stands to win a second term.

But this logic is based more on wishful thinking than economic or political reality. What they know is that Reagan, like Obama, inherited a terrible economy suffering from stagnation and high unemployment.

But that’s where the comparison ends, because Obama’s response — to embrace a Keynesian economic policy — bears no resemblance to the supply-side approach of Ronald Reagan. In fact, the two policies are mirror opposites, and so are the results....