2012 Scenarios: What if the Economy Heads Back Downhill?

huffingtonpost.com — If every jobs report over the next 8 months has at least 250,000 new jobs like the last one did, President Obama should easily cruise to victory over Romney or Santorum or whatever unlucky soul the Republicans put up. But if things take a turn for the worst, as is easy to imagine given the underlying structural problems this economic car we're driving has, it is going to be a hell of a ride. The president's team needs to hope for the best but plan for the worst, and they need to take care to not brag too much about whatever good we are seeing. They need to make damn sure the financial fraud task force succeeds, because more is riding on that than many people realize. And above all, they need to fight like bulldogs for the middle class. That strategy gives them a solid chance to win the 2012 election no matter what else happens.

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