Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images The issue that voters care about the most is the economy. The economy is doing better, and growing faster, than it was in 2012. But Democrats are doing worse in the polls. What gives? At first blush, it is a paradox. In terms of both level and trend, the economy is much healthier than it was two years ago — and a growing economy tends to benefit incumbent parties. The unemployment rate has fallen from 7.2 percent to 5.9 percent. Economic optimism is higher than it was back then, and climbing. The economy was growing at a 2.5 percent rate midway through 2012, now it is growing at a 3.5 percent rate. That growth has pushed the budget deficit to just 2.8 percent of economic output. But Democrats are facing something of a rout come Tuesday, likely to lose control of the Senate and to give up half a dozen or a dozen seats in the House. And pollsters and political scientists are not surprised. In fact, they say that any number of factors benefit the Republicans, relative to the Democrats. “There are a zillion reasons why 2014 is different than 2012,” said Whit Ayres, the veteran Republican pollster, predicting GOP gains. In general, during midterms, the president’s party… Read full this story
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