Obama adviser: Unemployment not key for 2012

Amid the frenzy created today by the release of disappointing June job numbers, Obama supporters can take heart--at least if they're diehard believers in campaign spin.

After all, earlier this week, top presidential adviser David Plouffe predicted unemployment isn't really going to affect the 2012 elections.

"The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers," Plouffe said at a Bloomberg breakfast event Wednesday. "People won't vote based on the unemployment rate, they're going to vote based on: 'How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?' "

Plouffe's talking points have stirred up no small amount of controversy, since they appear to downplay the plight of the more than 14 million Americans officially counted in the ranks of the unemployed. And in light of today's grim jobs report for June, Plouffe's reading of 2012 campaign dynamics risks the perception that the White House is dangerously out of touch.

Bloomberg reports that since World War II, no U.S. president has won re-election with a jobless rate above 6 percent--apart from Ronald Reagan in 1984. The unemployment rate is currently 9.2 percent, and polls show the economy continues to drag down the president's approval rating.

Today's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that there was virtually no job growth in the month of June--shocking news given that economists had predicted a modest bounce based on earlier reports of a robust uptick in private-sector hiring. Just 18,000 jobs were added last month, according to the report.

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