Daniel Gross, a global business editor at Newsweek, explains:
The U.S. economy, with its struggling jobs, housing, and auto sectors, were President Obama’s enemies through most of his term, and were poised to hammer him in the deciding weeks of the campaign. They were supposed to be surrogates for Mitt Romney.
Kind of like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Now, like Gov. Christie, it turns out that jobs, housing, and autos have become Obama’s friend in the fall of 2012—and at just the right time.
Prometheus Unbound 