by Benjamin J. Kirby
The United States added only 69,000 jobs last month, a dismal number that doesn't do a lot to help the chart the White House and the Obama Campaign would like you to be intimately familiar with.
In fact, look at the White House website, and it's pretty clear what they'd like us to be talking about this weekend: President Obama marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and honoring the fallen on Memorial Day.
The subtext -- if I am to be believed -- would be the Tuesday piece in the New York Times on the Obama "kill list", and the president's tough-on-global-terror stance. (As an aside, the president would probably like us all to forget his unfortunate "Polish death camps" phrase... Hey, nobody's perfect.)
These jobs numbers are probably going to keep international affairs and war and peace from being front-and-center on the Sunday talk shows. Republicans like Jeb Bush will certainly see to that.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told the House Budget Committee Friday morning that he fears the economy "is stalling again, and growing well below its historic potential."
The Republicans can make all the hay out of this that they care to -- and they will. But I'm not so sure I'd want to wade into that fight so cavalierly if I'm Romney's budget and economic advisers. the 69,000 are the fewest to be added in a year, but we're still adding jobs, and have been since Jeb's brother was president.
How do you message that? Obama's economic policies are working slowly... but still better than his Republican predecessor... that's why you should still give us a chance...?
I'm not naive. This election really is riding on an improved economy (I've said this before). I know it has to be real improvement, tangible improvement -- an improvement that people really feel. But take a look at that chart again. I'm no economist, but if you look at the summer months, they tend to dip. Can we expect a dip through this summer and another spike in job creation as we head into the fall election?
It's short-term lousy news. I suspect smarter folks than me at the Obama Campaign have their eye on something a bit longer-term.

