Naturally.
(WHD) — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney today said President Obama can and should be reelected even if the economy fails to improve.
TAPPER: Can he get reelected if the economy is not significantly improved and does he deserve to?
CARNEY: Yes, and here’s why: because what the election will be about is whose vision for America’s future is best, whose ideas for moving America forward are best. And what we confidently believe is that the American people will see in President Obama’s view for the future the right answers.
What we also believe is that if the Republican nominee, once he or she emerges, runs on the proposals that have been generated so far, which are essentially mirror images — not mirror images but exact replications of the policies that got us into this mess, the American people won’t think that is the right answer.
Carney’s statement contradicts Obama’s own prediction about his reelection chances, according to which the president has until February 2012 to fix the economy or be denied a second term.