Fading Hope and Little Change.

There is great interest in next month's election. Many Republicans anticipate picking up a good number of seats, even a majority in the House and Senate. Many Democrats fear it. President Obama is one. A Republican victory would be a significant hindrance to his ambitions and a major blow to his ego. Obama is convinced he is a man of destiny. A Republican victory would demonstrate otherwise.

Obama has been campaigning hard for fellow Democrats. Obama's presidential campaign centered around hope and change. Obama asserted that under his administration, things would get better. The "failed policies of the past" would be replaced by new policies that would bring about jobs and prosperity. They haven't. Things are still not well with the U.S. The failed policies of the past have given way to the failed policies of the present.

Two years ago when he was running for president, one of Obama's stock lines was that the Republicans had driven the economy into a ditch. The economy is still in a ditch. The Democrats have been in power for two years. They cannot blame the Republicans, although they are trying to desperately. The fact is they have no one to blame but themselves. Obama said he could get fix the economy. He hasn't. In fact, Bloomberg predicts that the unemployment rate will be higher at the end of Obama's term than it was when he took office. The unemployment rate was at 7.7% when Obama took office. It is now at 9.6%. Things are so grim at the moment that even the government is laying off workers

The hope that Obama promised two years ago has faded after two years of economic malaise. The change Obama promised has been elusive. Partisan conflict in Washington is worse than it has been in many years. Obama's monumental ambition and heavy hand in pushing his agenda have increased antagonism in Washington, not lessened it. Despite the rhetoric of the White House, resistance to Obama's agenda was largely based on principal, not on spite. It was the White House and the democrats who sought to portray opposition to the administration's agenda as based on politics and petulance. After all, Obama had won the election by such a large margin, clearly America embraced him. And, if America embraced Obama, it must have meant that they embraced his agenda. To oppose Obama verged on opposing America.

The administration can point its finger and make excuses for the struggling economy. They can comb the statistics finding nuggets of positive news. But Americans are still struggling, not just to find jobs, but to keep them. The ones with jobs might feel a little better with Obama's assurances, but to those without jobs and those struggling to make ends meet, statistics and press releases matter little.

Obama spoke about hope and change. People elected him because they hoped things would change. Thing haven't changed. Things have gotten worse. After being in charge for two years, the car is still in the ditch. Try as he might, Obama can't blame the Republicans for that.

We know how America feels about the economy. It will not be long before we find out how America feels about Obama and the democrats.