Letter: Economic woes may doom Bush

Friday, July 25, 2003 | 5:03 a.m.

Well, so-called experts have concluded that the Bush recession ended in November 2001. They should try telling that to the 6.4 percent of the population that is unemployed and to the senior citizens who have seen the rates on their certificates of deposit crash below 1 percent.

Isn't this eerily reminiscent of the situation that existed in the early 1990s under President George H.W. Bush? That President Bush was considered so unbeatable then that there weren't any serious Democratic challengers on the horizon. I say the same is true today, even though there are several non-serious challengers out there.

If the rest of the scenario plays out as it did then, unemployment will continue to rise and the economy will struggle along while President George W. Bush keeps telling us the recession is over.

This time, however, President Bush has the Sept. 11 card he can play over and over again and you can bet he will. It all depends on whether Americans are more afraid of the million-to-one chance that some terrorist will crash a plane into their homes, or the all-too real chance they will lose their jobs and they won't have homes to worry about.

My bet is the American people will wake up and see Bush's warmongering as a diversion from the rising unemployment rate and vote for an as-yet-unknown Democrat, and that Bush will be defeated at the polls just like his dad was.

DANIEL OLIVIER