On MSNBC's PoliticsNation on Tuesday, host Al Sharpton touted liberal Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank making a "bold prediction" about the remainder of Barack Obama's presidency: "...you wrote, quote, 'If the economy continues on its current trajectory, as most expect, he'll leave office a popular president and leave the 2016 Democratic nominee with a relatively easy past to victory.'"
Milbank doubled down on the prediction made in his Friday column: "Well, it's not so surprising. He crossed fifty percent today. I think he's on his way up to fifty-five percent, that puts him in a category not with George W. Bush but with Ronald Reagan." Sharpton happily replied: "I'll leave it there, on the Reagan note."
In the Post article, Milbank advised Obama critics to "get used to Obama's swagger" given that "Economic indicators suggest he's going to have even more to crow about in the months to come."
Milbank delighted in how the President "taunted his Republican opponents" during the State of the Union address, "reminding them in an off-the-cuff remark that he won both of his presidential runs and boasting about the suddenly booming economy."
Pushing the Reagan comparison, Milbank argued: "...people may not appreciate the extent to which Obama is likely to be ascendant in his final two years in office....the lame-duck path Obama was on now looks more like Ronald Reagan's in 1987 and 1988."
During live coverage of the State of the Union, ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos similarly saw an opportunity for Obama to achieve Reagan status:
Two years left, he has to do a lot like Ronald Reagan did when he was going into the seventh year of his presidency....he was able to do was convince the country that his economic program, Reaganomics, worked....he was able to lock in gains for Republicans for a generation by convincing them that his program worked. That’s President Obama's job tonight.
However, as MRC Business reported, the economic recovery under Reagan far surpassed the sluggish growth seen under Obama.
Here is a transcript of Sharpton's January 27 exchange with Milbank:
6:09 PM ET
AL SHARPTON: I have to raise this point, Dana. You just wrote about the President and the economy in The Washington Post, and you wrote, quote, "If the economy continues on its current trajectory, as most expect, he'll leave office a popular president and leave the 2016 Democratic nominee with a relatively easy past to victory." That's a pretty bold prediction, Mr. Milbank.
DANA MILBANK: Well, it's not so surprising. He crossed fifty percent today. I think he's on his way up to fifty-five percent, that puts him in a category not with George W. Bush but with Ronald Reagan.
SHARPTON: I'll leave it there, on the Reagan note.
