the politics of perception. i m michael smerconish in philadelphia. if it were still the economy stupid, then joe biden s presidency would be in much better shape. something else is at play here. yes, inflation is souring americans, but by many measures, the economy is booming. the economy is clearly grow ing. the gross domestic product is up 5.2% in the third quarter, even faster than previousliest mated. if gdp is rising, the economy is considered to be in solid shape and the nation moving forward. the dow jones rallied this week to a new high for the year. wages had been losing ground to inflation for two years, but since may, wages have return to outpacing inflation. and unemployment is at an historic low. the u.s. unemployment rate has been below 4% for 21 straight months, the longest stretch since the late 1960s. how about gas prices? they have fallen or remain ed steady for ten weeks. you barely reed about that, but if they were headed in the other direction, it would