A key point absent in DC: American people care about jobs and the economy

While Washington dithers and brings the country to the brink of another economic collapse, the American people are pretty cranky about jobs and the economy. And neither party is free of their wrath. It really is the economy, stupid. And jobs, stupid. From the Washington Post:

More than a third of Americans now believe that President Obama’s policies are hurting the economy, and confidence in his ability to create jobs is sharply eroding among his base, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

But Americans’ discontent does not stop there. The survey also found that Americans harbor negative feelings toward congressional Republicans. Roughly as many people blame Republican policies for the poor economy as they do Obama. But 65 percent disapprove of the GOP’s handling of jobs, compared to 52 percent for the president.

There's bad news for both parties in this poll. That's because people aren't feeling particularly good about the economy:

The dissatisfaction is fueled by the fact that many Americans continue to see little relief from the pain of a recession that technically ended two years ago. Ninety percent of those surveyed said the economy is not doing well, and four out of five report that jobs are difficult to find.

And, while we know the White House is hyper-focused on independent voters, this should be worrisome:

Still, Obama receives higher marks from crucial independents than Republicans when it comes to jobs. But appeasing his own party could prove to be a bigger challenge.

The Post-ABC poll found that the number of liberal Democrats who strongly support Obama’s record on jobs plunged 22 points from 53 percent last year to 31 percent. The number of African Americans who believe the president’s actions have helped the economy has dropped from 77 percent in October to just over half of those surveyed.

So, maybe the base does matter. And it's a safe bet the unemployment rate will matter next year, too.

For two years now, I've been hearing people say: "Next, we're going to pivot to jobs." Seems like the American people haven't seen the pivot yet, either.