Ask a dozen people if they're better off now than when President Obama took office, and you'll get a dozen different answers.
Jean Reams talked with us at a Tea Party rally in Medina. She's no fan of President Obama.
"I am definitely not better off," Reams said. "The price of gasoline is killing me, I haven't had a raise. I have a 30 mile drive to work every day, and it's just harder and harder."
If gas prices were the sole measure of "better or worse off," Reams is indeed far worse off today when the president took office. Back then, gasoline averaged $1.90 per gallon. That was right after the entire U.S. economy ground to a halt. But back in the summer of 2008 -- just more than four years ago -- gas prices peaked at $4.17 per gallon. Today it averages $3.89.
Lakewood resident John Gattarello says he doesn't blame Mr. Obama for the price of gas. Gattarello says he's better off than in 2009, and he'll vote for the president. But a more important measure of "better off" for him is his brother, who works in Afghanistan with a company that trains police officers.
"The war's winding down," Gattarello said. "My brother's been going over there for the last seven years in that area. And it's just nice to know that come December, hopefully he'll be home for good."
Tony Alvares says he's voting for Mr. Obama because things could have been worse. He's a letter carrier, and he says he sees how the housing market has changed when he delivers the mail.
"Four years ago, everything was collapsing," Alvares said. "There were a lot of people that were losing their homes. And I saw a lot of foreclosures. And now, finally it's coming back. It's taking time, but people are moving into those homes now."
Home prices ticked up in Northeast Ohio and across the country. And consumer confidence climbed last month, too.
One sector that hasn't seen a rebound: government employment. Michelle Kinney is an undecided, but admittedly conservative, voter I met at the Romney rally in Painesville. She's a freshman at Lake Erie College voting for her first time. She says she's not better off. Her dad lost his job last year.
"He was the manager with the Lucas County Board of Developmental Disabilities," Kinney said. "And they were doing pay cuts all around because they weren't getting enough state and federal funding."
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ohio has been shedding government jobs since 2008, while the private sector has slowly gained since 2010.
In 1980 this question "Are you better off today?" was a simple one, with a simple directive: If you're better off, vote for the incumbent. If you're worse off, vote for the challenger. The gambit may have worked for Ronald Reagan, but if a recent poll taken by the Ohio Newspapers group is any indication, that outcome might not repeat itself in 2012. 36 percent of people polled said they were worse off. 23 percent said they were better. And 41 percent said "about the same." And respondents gave the president a 5 percentage-point edge. But of course, that could all change between now and election day.
Brian Bull contributed reporting.
