If man were merely an economic being, this would be a pleasant autumn for Bill Clinton. After all, the economy is recovering nicely. The unemployment rate is under 6 percent for the first time since 1990; inflation rose just 0.2 percent in September. And yet, of course, this is the season of Clinton's discontent. His fellow Democrats may suffer huge losses at the polls next month. The president privately tells senior aides that he is resigned to not getting credit for now, but he predicts that eventually he will win accolades for his handling of the economy. "He's pretty philosophical about it," says a senior adviser. "He feels that during a global economic transformation, people are insecure even when, objectively speaking, things are getting better." Without the luxury of time, though, he will campaign on the theme that Americans face a choice between progress and a GOP economic vision reminiscent of the 1980s. "We've tried it," he told voters in Michigan last week, "and we will not be fooled again."
But some political analysts believe that voters are too cynical to give a president -- let alone one with perceived character problems -- credit for a growing economy. "The recession of 1990 wreaked havoc on public confidence, and it has not been restored," says Frank Luntz, a GOP political consultant who advised Ross Perot. "It is lack of faith in the government to effect anything." Luntz's recommendation to Clinton? "Get off TV and spend 18 hours a day at Camp David on the phone raising campaign money." That's not advice the president is likely to follow.
