EVIL LIBERAL RAIN DANCE: FINALE

What was the idea of the Bush debate negotiation team when they decided that the best day to hold the domestic policy debate was just hours after the September job data came out?

Well, they asked for it:

U.S. employers hired just 96,000 workers in September, the government said on Friday in a weak jobs snapshot, the final one ahead of presidential elections that also fueled speculation about a pause in interest-rate rises.

Democratic presidential contender Sen. John Kerry, who will face President Bush later on Friday for the second of three presidential debates before the Nov. 2 vote, termed the report "disappointing."

But Treasury Secretary John Snow countered that job creation showed the economy was "on the right path."

Cute, Secretary.

Of course, if the report revealed the creation of two or more jobs in September, Bush would use it to say, on the campaign trail, that he was "creating jobs".

Before you give in to that spin, keep the following in mind.

As Max reminds us, the 96k figure is well short of the 150k amount needed just to keep up with the expanding workforce.

And as Max also notes in the same post, the alternative employment survey, the "Household" index, shows a loss of 200,000 jobs. But... but... but what about eBay?

And as Max also reminds us, the 96k figure is far short of the level of monthly job creation Bush promised at the time he was promoting his 2003 tax cuts. (well after 9/11) That number was 300,000.

This will be one of many hanging sliders Kerry will receive tonight.