Which of these is better Politics?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

The news that Obama has reduced the deficit by 8% from Bush's last budget strikes me as the worst of both worlds.

• It is politically useless. Nobody will believe it, or care. Most deficit hawks are just partisans anyway.

• It speaks to a failing, not a success. Reducing the deficit today is economic malpractice, not something to get excited about. (The teabaggers are wrong about economics... sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but they are.)

So the question is, leaving aside things like morality and good government, which of these would have been a politically better move?

[doc03]

1. If the deficit went up it would be on the front page.

Instead of "Obama reduced the deficit by 8% from Bush's last budget". USA Today has "Deficit on pace to be second highest". Local Repug paper has no mention of it at all.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

2. Half of people thought Clinton increased the deficit

It's a no=win issue for Dems and thus a silly one for us to pursue in hopes of being loved by RWers.

[HopeHoops]

3. If we get the jobs, the deficit will be lowered naturally.