In response to Mark, the question I asked wasn't "what do you think of the economy as a poltical issue". The question I was asking was about the potential for Bush's and Cheney's past actions regarding stock sales becoming a scandal which would effect the upcoming election. I apologize if I didn't make that more clear.

Everytime I've logged on to my MSN homepage, there have been links to more mainstream media stories about their behaving in the very same way that the Worldcom, Enron, et al bandits have behaved. The latest link is to Newsweek's story:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/779608.asp?pne=msn

People may not be upset in the least by the recession if it hasn't effected them, but there are all these John and Jane Doe nouveau investors who are getting burned. Hundreds of thousands of employees have seen their retirement funds go up in smoke, while the corporate leaders of these organizations make millions off their losses.

I don't think there is much chance of proving illegal wrongdoing on Bush or Cheney's stock deals. However, the appearance of gross impropriety is, I believe, a credible threat to the electability of Republicans in November, and despite the amount of time until the '04 elections, also creates a potential risk of Bush becoming a de facto lame duck after November because of the taint of scandal on his administration--the one Bush claimed was going to "clean up" politics.