The Republican National Committee is out with its latest national TV spot, hanging the economy around Obama’s neck in the context of promises made during his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver:

Only problem here is that most Americans, according to polls–even if they disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy–still attribute significant blame to Bush. Almost all of the horrendous economic statistics in the ad reflect the anemic period from January-March 2009, when Obama inherited the Bush economy in a tailspin.

Key to his reelection hopes is a positive message that things are improving but that also acknowledges the immense pain still being felt. Obama managed, despite journalists’ fretting to the contrary, to connect with the economically fearful in the fall of 2008; he needs to do so again in 2012.