The fine folks at CEPR recall Reagan's question to the American people: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Only, they've got eight years of data to examine, and they have the internets and html and the ability to make a table:
It's actually testament to the tribal nature of politics that the election is anywhere in the neighborhood of close. If party affiliation and cultural recognition were irrelevant, there's no earthly way that Republicans would even be considered for another go at the presidency. As it is, elections are far more about what you are" than "what they've done," except for a fairly small sliver of folks who don't pay much attention and aren't the sort of folks you convince with tables full of economic data anyway.
It's actually testament to the tribal nature of politics that the election is anywhere in the neighborhood of close. If party affiliation and cultural recognition were irrelevant, there's no earthly way that Republicans would even be considered for another go at the presidency. As it is, elections are far more about what you are" than "what they've done," except for a fairly small sliver of folks who don't pay much attention and aren't the sort of folks you convince with tables full of economic data anyway. 
