even a very great political natural would have a hard time doing. so then the sense to you is that he has more to prove or can he also abide by the do no harm and come out of it unscathed and perhaps get that bump just for showing up? this is the problem. because if he does no harm, presumably his lag in the polls, five to seven points, will remain. he has to use this first debate, which is the one that most people are going to remember and notice, to essentially move public opinion. that s a tough thing to do. okay, michael, always a pleasure. thank you so much. same here, be well, alex. how do you feel, no place like home and no soup for you. joining me now a retail and economics analyst. with a welcome to you. there s a good news with the consumer sentiment numbers. those are the highest they ve been in about four months now. what do you acontribute rise to? you re right. consumer sentiment has been extremely high. numbers came out yesterday. they were at 78.3%.
ago penny and what to do next. if you look at the consumer sentiment numbers drove the market lower. they are nervous as they have been since 1981 when carter was president. and once in 2008 when we had the big market meltdown. but things are up slightly, $360 billion last month? the numbers for retail higher show people shopping in electronics and variety of categories. this is the last four weeks. these are people reacting to the news in realtime. they remain nervous. i m sure they be happy to see the gas prices come down. that is something you have to spend on screnl, you can t not spend not to go to school or go to the grocery store. that is good news. it s a group of problems people are trying to fight off right
did you get the change and the hope that you believed in? well, it turns out those republican candidates, they had a little competition, too. i don t think i m stealing any spotlight. in fact, if anybody thinks that i m stealing the spot, go, go find the other folks and say, hello. now, sarah palin wasn t in the big debate last night and she rolled into the state fair, nonetheless, even work a digalt the newest candidate texas governor rick perry as she nadknown, join the republican dance. there s a lot of contemplation that needs to go into earth shattering life saving decision for everyone. a packed hour tonight, including putting every debate statements to the truth test, like this one. that s right. i was very vocal against that tax, and i fought against that tax. let s begin live in iowa on the eve of a republican straw poll that has no official role in the gop nominating contest, but has a history of derailing once promising candidacies. at state fair in d
got his start. this is where he s going to come to his end, in iowa. did you get the change and the hope that you believed in. well, it turnless out that those republican candidates had a little competition, too. i don t think i m stealing anybody s spotlight. go, go find the other folks and say hello. now, sarah palin wasn t in the big debate last night and she rolled into the state fair, none t nonetheless, let everyone know she may yet join the republican dance. there s a lot of contemplation that needs to go into earth shattering life saving decision for everyone. a packed hour tonight, including putting every debate statements to the truth test, like this one. that s right. i was very vocal against that tax and fought against that tax. no official role in the gop nominating contest but a history of derailing once promising kanld da sees, at the state fair, steve and our chief political correspondent, candy crowley. candy, i want to start with you and, yes,
dip recession. it s huge, david. you look at just the consumer confidence, the consumer sentiment numbers from the month of february. you see people are pretty discouraged right now. that s significant. let s face it, it s the consumer base that keeps the economy going. if you and i don t shop, don t go out to dinner, those businesses really suffer. the only way we re going to go out and spend a lot of money is if we re confident we have jobs. people just don t have that confidence right now. that leads a number of conmisses out there to start upping the chance of a double dip recession scenario. it s certainly something many people think is in the cards. we certainly hope not. cnbc s krish regultrish rega. thanks as always we appreciate it. general motors will reinstate about 600 dealerships slated to be cut. last year gm told 2,000 car dealers they would revoke their franchise agreements in 2010 as