Has White House Lost Touch With Reality ?

President Obama has done several things in the last few months that have made me wonder about him. But the latest pronouncement from his top campaign advisor has me wondering if the president has completely lost touch with reality. It's either that, or his staff is making stupid statements without consulting him -- in which case they need to be fired and replaced as soon as possible.

The other day the Labor Department released its jobs figures for the month of June. To say it was depressing is an understatement. It showed the unemployment situation is getting worse, not better. Showing a complete disregard for reality Obama's top political advisor, David Plouffe, said, "The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers. People won't vote based on the unemployment rate, they're going to vote based on: 'How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?'"

Either the president or Plouffe (or both) has completely gone insane, or he (they) are living in a world different from that of the rest of us -- perhaps a world peopled with rainbow-colored unicorns (who all have jobs). The next election is not going to be about unemployment? Really?

Just look at the figures. Currently there are more than 14 million people the government counts as unemployed. Add to this nearly 3 million people who would love to have a job but have given up (or at least not looked for work in the last four weeks). Then add in the nearly 9 million people who cannot find a full-time job and are forced into working part-time. That's about 25-26 million people who will view unemployment as the top issue in the next election -- guaranteed!

And all of these people have family and friends -- people who understand the devastation that the current unacceptable unemployment figures have wrought on people they love/respect. There is little doubt that the huge majority of voters are going to consider jobs to be the most important issue in the 2012 election -- maybe even the only issue that really matters.

Somebody had better wake the White House up and bring them back to reality. Voters in the next election are going to vote for the person who has a solution to unemployment. If that's not President Obama, they'll find someone else. Jobs and unemployment is the only issue that matters, and the voters know that this country will remain mired in a bad economy until large numbers are jobs start being created.