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As Ken Burnss superb documentary on the Roosevelts reminded us, Happy Days Are Here Again is one of the most evocative anthems in the history of the Democratic Party. You have to ask: Why arent the Democrats, and the country, singing it loudly now?

A party controlling the White House could not ask for much more from economic numbers than the Democrats got in Fridays jobs report, issued a month and a day before the midterm elections. Unemployment fell to 5.9percent, the lowest it has been since July 2008. The nation added 248,000 jobs, more than the forecasters had projected. Whats not to like?

President Obama, for one, is clearly frustrated that having inherited an economy that was at deaths door, he is getting remarkably little credit for getting it back on its feet.

As Americans, we can and should be proud of the progress that our country has made over these past six years, Obama said in a speech at Northwestern University the day before the figures were released. Right now, there are more job openings than at any time since 2001. All told, the United States has put more people back to work than Europe, Japan, and every other advanced economy combined.

And lest anyone miss the import of what he just said, the president added: I want you to think about that.

He would also like voters to think about that before they cast their ballots. And here is the conundrum of the 2014 campaign. In 2010, House Speaker John Boehners battle cry that helped Republicans win their landslide was, Where are the jobs? Obama and the Democrats are now in a position to reply: Here are the jobs!

But Boehner isnt asking that question anymore.

Why doesnt this good news matter more to the electorate? Obama and Democrats trying to survive this fall face two problems in getting voters to sing a joyous song.

The first is that the very improvement in the economy means that it is a less central concern to voters than it was when Obama took office or in 2010. The Gallup Polls numbers are striking: In February 2009, 86percent of Americans listed an economic issue as their central concern; in October 2010, on the eve of the last midterms, 69percent did. But in the most recent Gallup survey, the proportion listing an economic issue was down to 41percent. Better times mean different worries.

Yet voters who are still concerned about the economy tend to be focused not on its successes but on what it is failing to do for them. Thats the Democrats other problem. The unemployment rate is way down, but its still not low enough to create rapid and widespread wage growth. Many of the forces that have been driving up inequality since the 1980s are still with us.

Continued here:
Dionne: Why Democrats arent getting credit for the economy