This isn't the worst economy since the Great Depression. By saying it is, it sends people into a panic state (for lack of a better term) because they don't have a reference point or 'memory' of the Depression. Fear of the unknown drives more fear. We have to connect the 'fear' to something more tangible that they can undrestand exactly the type of mess that we're in, and that in fact there is a way out of it. I use the Carter Presidency to demonstrate the mess.
What the majority of American's will have (at least those of us who were at least 10 years old when Carter first took office) is a direct memory of how bad the Carter Presidency was: Double-digit and hyper-inflation, the 'misery index', gasoline rationing, Carter on TV wearing a cardigan sweater telling people to 'turn their thermostats down' and the hostage crisis.
Those are the people that the message and the talking points I outlined were geared towards. That's the majority of the population whether they voted for Obama or not.
I've heard so many Obama voters express regret for voting for that POC, in that they said they didn't know what they were getting when they voted for him. Linking him to Carter is a way for them to visually connect for them exactly what they did. When I've used the 'talking points' I outlined in my post above, it's been a pretty powerful tool for people to connect the dots and understand exactly the mess we're in.
I think using Carter as a backdrop for Obama works. At least it has in the conversations I've had with Obama voters that actually do remember the Carter years. I think linking Carter and Obama together is a powerful weapon, and the GOP should do it. I really do. But then again, I'm not a member of the Republican Party and haven't been since 1990 so they're free to continue falling down the blackhole they have been since the 2006 elections.
Again, just my .02
"The worst economy since Jimmy Carter" is one of Hannity's favorite and most repeated talking points.