Gallup finds that the rise in economic confidence this month “has been almost exclusively due to soaring optimism among Democrats and independents who lean Democratic.”

“It’s possible that the Democratic convention themes praising Obama’s economic record and laying out economic goals for a second term were effective at convincing the party faithful that the economy is not so bad and getting better. Alternatively, the sheer excitement generated by the convention may have boosted Democrats’ optimism that Obama will win re-election, and thus their economic confidence rose in kind.”

Wonk Wire: Why 2013 will be a terrible year even if we don’t go over the fiscal cliff.

“U.S. economic growth pulled back further during the second quarter of the year as consumer spending slowed — a reading that suggests domestic fiscal worries may becoming a more significant drag,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Wonk Wire notes it’s a big week for economic news that may impact the presidential campaign.

Mitt Romney told CNBC that voters who want a strong economy should vote for him, but Americans “ought to give, whichever president is going to be elected, at least six months or a year to get those policies in place.”

Steve Benen: “Throughout the presidential campaign, Romney has said the clock should start in February 2009, Obama’s first month in office. If that’s fair — if the president deserves the blame for every job lost on his 11th day in office — it’s true that under Obama, the economy is still in a deep hole and hasn’t fully recovered from the losses of early 2009.”

“But look what happens when we start the clock, as Romney suggests, six months to a year after President Obama was sworn in. In fact, if we don’t hold Obama’s first year against him, the economy has added over 3.7 million jobs overall during his presidency, and over 4.2 million in the private sector. That’s not the count by my standard; that’s the count by Romney’s standard.”

Businessweek:
“Apparently, retiring 12-term Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is trying to go out not with a bang — but in a cloud of smoke.”

Unemployment rose last month in six of 10 battleground states in the presidential election, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The jobless rate climbed a 10th of a percentage point last month in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire and Virginia… The rate held steady in three other battleground states — Nevada, Florida, and North Carolina.”

“Ohio was the only battleground state where unemployment fell last month.”

President Obama “has not met for six months with the CEOs and others on his Jobs Council in part because he’s simply been too busy,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told Politico.

Said Carney: “There’s no specific reason, except the president has obviously got a lot on his plate, but he continues to solicit and receive advice from numerous folks outside the administration about the economy about ideas that he can act on with Congress or administratively to help the economy grow and help create jobs.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told senators at a hearing that “economic activity appears to have decelerated somewhat” and “the reduction in the unemployment rate seems likely to be frustratingly slow,” the Washington Post reports.

Wonk Wire has a round up of reactions to Bernanke’s testimony.

“European leaders at a two-day summit in Brussels said they would speed up plans to create a single supervisor to oversee the euro zone’s banks, and agreed on measures aimed at reducing soaring borrowing costs for Spain and Italy,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Reuters notes it’s “a sign the bloc is adopting a more flexible approach to solving its two-year old debt crisis.”

Alex Burns: “Like the health care decision, it’s not as if a move toward economic stability in Europe is going to give the president a big boost at the polls. But it staves off a different outcome (another global financial crisis) that could have been catastrophic for Obama, and that grim scenario looks somewhat less likely today.”

Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index slid again last week and is now at the lowest point since late January.

“Our state is doing extremely well. We still have 800,000 people out of work, but we’re changing it. Tourism is way up, jobs are up, housing prices are staying stable. If you want to buy a house, now is the time.”

— Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), quoted by TPM, apparently not heeding the advice of Mitt Romney’s campaign to downplay positive economic news in Florida.

USA Today notes the cost of gasoline could be below $3 a gallon by the November election.

“Nationally, regular gasoline averages $3.47 a gallon, down 47 cents from this year’s high in April and well below the $5-a-gallon fears fanned earlier this year by energy speculators, Middle East tensions and oil refinery glitches that crimped supplies. Those issues appear to be over, at least for now.”

A new Bloomberg poll finds 45% of Americans say they are better off than at when President Obama took office compared with 36% who say they are worse off.

However, there are hints of unease in the findings: 32% of Americans say they’re hopeful about improvement in the economy, down from 37% in March. And 19% say they’re fearful, compared with 17% three months ago.

Bill Clinton said that President Obama’s economic recovery efforts were “beating the clock” historically in comparison to other economies that have been through similar tumult, the Boston Globe reports.

Said Clinton: “If you go back 500 years, whenever a country’s financial system collapses, it takes between five and 10 years to get back to full employment. If you go back for the last 200 years, when buildings had been widely owned by individuals and companies, if there’s a mortgage collapse, it almost always takes 10 years.”

He added: “He’s beating the clock, not behind it. Don’t listen to those Republicans. We are beating the clock.”

Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said that President Obama’s decision to bailout Chrysler and General Motors was actually Romney’s idea, The Hill reports.

Said Fehrnstrom: “His position on the bailout was exactly what President Obama followed. I know it infuriates them to hear that. The only economic success that President Obama has had is because he followed Mitt Romney’s advice.”

The claim appears to be a shift from Mitt Romney’s November 2008 op-ed in the New York Times, headlined, “Let Detroit go bankrupt.”

The economic output of the United States grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the first quarter of the year, easing from the prior quarter’s growth rate of 3%, the New York Times reports.

Reuters: “Although the details were mixed, the GDP
report offered a somewhat better picture of growth compared with the
fourth quarter, when inventory building accounted for nearly two thirds
of the economy’s growth. In the first quarter, demand from consumers
took up the slack.”

A USA Today survey of economists finds that “despite the headwinds of higher gas prices and Europe’s financial crisis” they think the U.S. economy will grow faster than expected this year.

Key findings: “The economy will grow 2.5% this year vs. their 2.3% forecast three months ago. Unemployment averaging 8% in the fourth quarter vs. 8.2% now.”

A new CNN/Opinion Research survey finds 43% of Americans
say things are going well in the country, up a whopping 19 points from August. That said, 57% say things are still
going badly.