President Barack Obama's campaign team hoped that by now, the lethargic U.S. economy would be perking up as it had for President Ronald Reagan in the summer of 1984, setting the stage for Reagan's re-election rout.
But it is not to be.
New government figures show economic growth is slowing, not picking up speed - meaning Obama will continue to face economic headwinds.
The economy grew at an annual rate of just 1.5 percent from April through June, down from 2.0 percent the previous three months. While that showed it was still growing, if slowly, and not tottering back into recession, there was scarce other good news in the report for Obama - and plenty of ammunition for Republicans.
They piled on at once.