McKinstry: Are we better off than in 2008? The answer is yes

One morning during a meeting last week in Tampa, Fla., Republican strategist Frank Luntz gave the New York State Republican Party a painting of former President Ronald Reagan.

The portrait of the conservative icon sat in front of the podium in the ballroom of the hotel where the state delegation was staying. In speech after speech from the likes of state party chairman Edward Cox, former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and House Speaker John Boehner, there were references to Reagan: on the economy, unemployment and Iran, to name a few.

But the most memorable Reaganism was his famous remark during a debate with President Jimmy Carter: "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

We're hearing it a lot these days.

Paul Ryan asked it. So did Mitt Romney.

The simple answer: We are better off. But how quickly we can forget.

Four years ago, the housing market imploded. Financial markets plunged after the subprime mortgage crisis. Lehman Brothers collapsed. The U.S. auto industry was on the verge of failure and the government took control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. President George W. Bush pushed for a $700-billion economic stimulus package that was eventually approved. We were fighting wars on two fronts, in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. combat forces left Iraq in 2011.

Former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday covered many of these areas during his 48-minute speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., and answered that gnawing question to thunderous applause.

"When President Barack Obama took office, the economy was in free fall. It had just shrunk 9 full percent of GDP. We were losing 750,000 jobs a month," Clinton said. "Are we doing better than that today? The answer to that is yes."

At a campaign stop in downtown Detroit earlier this week, Vice President Joe Biden summed it in simple terms: "You want to know whether we're better off? I've got a little bumper sticker for you: 'Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.'"

To be clear, things are better, but we're not where we want, or need, them to be. Not on jobs, education, energy or even our place in the world.

The economy is improving, but there's still a way to go. Gasoline prices remain high, wages are stagnant and unemployment is hovering around 8.3 percent. An estimated 12.8 million people are still out of work.

Those people aren't better off. And maybe that's the Republican goal -- to attract disaffected voters. But that won't solve their problems.

In the remaining eight weeks of this campaign, the candidates must present more than their vision for America. We need to hear a real path to getting the economy humming, on stable ground and getting people back to work, among so many other challenges.

The "better off" question worked for Reagan more than three decades ago.

It won't work for Romney. If Republicans want a Romney Revolution, they are going to have to start asking different questions -- and then have some answers.

Gerald McKinstry is a member of the Newsday editorial board.