Plouffe: Americans Won't Vote on Jobless Rate

The Hill reports:

Americans won't cast their votes in the next presidential election based on the unemployment rate, President Obama's top political adviser said.

"The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers," David Plouffe said according to Bloomberg on Wednesday. "People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?'"

Some political observers have voiced skepticism of President Obama's reelection prospects given the 9.1 percent unemployment rate. That's a higher unemployment rate than any president who has won reelection since World War II according to Bloomberg. Except for Reagan, who won reelection when the unemployment rate was at about 7 percent, no other president in that span was voted into a second term with a unemployment rate above 6 percent.

Plouffe added that this race would be much closer than the last one.

"It will be a closer race than last time," he said. "They will run a better race than last time, whoever it is."