UPDATE: Obama's Job Growth Record (June/2012)

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting released last Friday, 84,000 private sector jobs were created in June. The version of the chart below has been updated to include those results.

The disappointing number of jobs created in June reflects a still sluggish economy, and it's true that adding only 84,000 new private sector jobs does not reduce the overall unemployment rate, which remained steady at 8.2%.

Two other facts to note:

1. Though we only had a modest 84,000 private sector jobs created, June was the 28th consecutive month of job growth. 
2. In January 2009, we experienced a loss of 839,000 jobs. This means the most recent month of Obama is still net 923,000 jobs better than the last month of George W. Bush.

Note: We all agree we want more private sector jobs to be created, but we aren't unanimous in our opinions about the elimination or expansion of government jobs. That's why it's helpful to look at private sector employment (this graph) separately from public sector or government job activity.

Will 2012 Be Our Most Boring Election Ever?

GOP voters listening intently.
Photo: Edward Linsmier / Getty

Every four years in American politics one presidential candidate or another is likely to characterize that year’s contest as “the most important election of our lifetime,” and of course that sentiment is, almost always, untrue.

Nonetheless, self-important politicians imagine that the world events and domestic issues with which they must wrangle are the most grievous in history, or at least that's what they'd like voters to believe.

For this November’s general election, the "most important" moniker rings particularly hollow. While the election is shaping up to be a close race, it's not piling up the necessary political tender to catch fire and become an impassioned barnburner. Perhaps it all feels anti-climactic compared to the historic aura that surrounded the 2008 election, or maybe it's simply pre-convention summer doldrums. For whatever reason, this year’s presidential contest is showing early signs that it may be the most boring, not the most important, election of our lifetime.

Maybe it’s the choice of candidates that make this election feel like a potential snoozer.

It’s no secret that Mitt Romney has struggled to unite the Republican Party. With key policy positions that possess Gumby-like flexibility, the Republican establishment and GOP rank-and-file voters have been slow to warm to Romney. Primary turnout has been low, and while the GOP base has finally rallied around its frontrunner, they did so reluctantly, committing to Romney only after test-driving every other candidate in the market.

The caution and control Romney practices in his daily interactions with the public have enabled him to avoid any significant political pitfalls, but they have also added to his robotic demeanor and inhibited his ability to forge meaningful connections with his audience. As for Romney’s bank of engaging ideas, they sound distressingly similar to the strategies of our last Republican administration. “Yay,” cried the GOP, “more of what we used to do.”

Democrats, meanwhile, continue to be periodically inspired by President Obama, but some of his luster has most assuredly worn off.