A Chart That Should Scare Republicans

Yesterday, Mitt Romney managed to fend off a serious challenge in Michigan by Rick Santorum, besting the former senator by 3 points in Michigan and 21 points in Arizona. The former Massachusetts governor outspent his opponent by two-to-one, but whatever: Romney won.

Yesterday held far bigger news then the GOP primary, though: The Dow Jones hit 13,000 points. The last time the stock market index was at that level was back in January 2008, more than four years ago. And at that time, it was on it’s way down, quickly, as the recession gathered steam — the last 15 months of George W. Bush’s presidency saw the Dow drop nearly 6,000 points. Two months into Barack Obama’s tenure, the index reached its low point, slumping to 6,547 in March 2009.

Dow Jones Industrial Average Chart by YCharts

But then something interesting happened: Just a few weeks after Obama signed his stimulus package, the Dow began to rise. Sure, it was herky-jerky, but under our supposedly socialistic president, we’ve seen the Dow go up around 5,000 points from the beginning of his term. Paired with the fact that employers continue to hire — unemployment is down to 8.3 percent on the back of nearly two years of job growth — and the Republicans are being robbed of their strongest anti-Obama campaign bludgeon: The economy.