A month ago, after what was considered a strong Democratic convention and a lackluster one for Republicans, the Romney campaign eagerly looked to the monthly jobs report to change the subject. Now the dynamic is reversed: After what was considered Romney’s strong debate performance and Obama’s subpar one, Democrats were looking to today’s job numbers for some good news. They got it. The unemployment rate fell to 7.8% — the first time it’s been below 8% since Jan. 2009. Does it have an impact? Overall monthly jobs numbers seem to have very little impact on the public. Yet the bigger story is the impact on the tone of the political coverage in a 24- to 48-hour period, and that helps the Obama campaign change the subject from Wednesday night’s debate.
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Oct 2012