With poor economy, Obama needs a Hail Mary pass to survive

My 95-year-old dad interrogates me in the colder months of every year about two small, bullet-shaped devices on the front end of my car.

They are high-pitched whistles called "deer alerts" made to keep deer from jumping in front of passing cars on area highways. They come in handy starting in the fall during deer mating season.

"How do you know they work?" Dad always asks.

I say because I've not crashed into a deer yet. As a chemist seeking conclusive evidence, Dad always counters, saying that's bad logic.

He's right. But the non-evidence is the best I have for safety's sake on my frequent trips to see him in St. Louis.

Unfortunately a similar, non-evidence logic is what President Barack Obama faces with voters about the economy as he seeks a second term in the White House. He tried to convince listeners in his State of the Union address last week that his stimulus plan and other efforts have created or saved millions of jobs and driven down the unemployment rate.

Despite Obama's pronouncements, the housing crisis continues with more foreclosures separating families from their homes. Consumer spending and confidence haven't rebounded, and home sales haven't recovered.

The much-promised green energy revolution has yet to take hold. Obama can't completely blame the stagnation on George W. Bush's eight years in the White House.

Obama also can't take credit for a turnaround. He has tried to contend that without his administration the nation would be worse off and millions more jobs would have vanished.

But that's my deer whistle logic. Without captured-on-cellphone-camera proof, it's pooh-poohed by voters like my dad ribs me.

Obama, indeed, has bought this bad economy on a three-year layaway plan. It has been up to him to either get the country on the right financial track or be tied to the rails as the locomotive of voter discontent roars through on the November election schedule.

Dad has insisted since the Great Depression that people always vote with their wallet. Without a turnaround, Obama will be a one-term president.

Americans are exhausted with being afraid and uncertain about their economic future. Sure, a lot of folks had a good time spending during the Christmas holiday season.