If the Democrats thought they had better than even odds on winning in 2020, would they be gunning for impeachment?

It’s not about impeachment succeeding. Without a bunch of GOP defections, it can’t. But impeachment and the manufactured scandals provide an important opposing narrative to what would normally be the main topic, the economy, Without the economy, all they’ve got are scandals and freebies. And that’s what they’re running on. The latest economic numbers are a reminder of why.

The jobs market turned in a stellar performance in November, with nonfarm payrolls surging by 266,000 and the unemployment rate falling to 3.5%, according to Labor Department numbers released Friday.

Those totals easily beat the Wall Street consensus. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for solid job growth of 187,000 and saw the unemployment rate holding steady from October’s 3.6%. The decline in November’s jobless rate came amid a corresponding 0.1 percentage point drop in the labor force participation rate, to 63.2%.

Stocks opened sharply higher in reaction to the better-than-expected report. Bond yields also surged.

It’s funny how in the Obama economy, the actual results kept underperforming projections, while in the Trump economy, they outperform projections.

The unemployment rate of 3.5%, down from 3.6% in October, is back to the 2019 low and matches the lowest jobless rate since 1969. 

Is the economy working great for everyone? Of course not. It never is. And there are still major issues. But there’s no denying that these are compelling numbers. GDP growth isn’t as good as it’s been. Manufacturing and agriculture have faced some challenges. And yet this economy is vastly better for most of the country than the Obama numbers.