he Republicans would prefer to change the subject from the latest appalling proof that Mitt Romney is fundamentally unfit to be even within the same zip code as the Oval Office. They would much prefer that everyone focus on unemployment. Because we are nice people, let's accommodate them. Because this election very quickly is moving past the question of who will be president next year, and now is more about control of next year's Congress. This election also has become about reframing false political narratives, for the benefit of Democrats, the nation, the world, and the very concept of truth, going forward.

The Republicans have no credibility on deficits. The Republicans have no credibility on national security. For decades, both have been all but ceded as Republican strengths, despite plenty of evidence that they shouldn't be. On those issues, Democrats have often played on the Republican home field, to the detriment of everyone. The Republicans would like for the same dynamic to pertain on the economy and unemployment. At the end of last week, while President Obama was enjoying the early indications of what we now know is a substantial post-Convention bounce, Republicans rejoiced at the release of a lousy jobs report. They were sure that would deflate what they deluded themselves into believing was but a temporary Obama polling bubble. It's the economy, stupid—Republicans rejoiced. And it is the economy. And unemployment still will be one of the key issues in this election, up and down the ballot. But not in the way Republicans think.