Kerry embarrassed by own Middle-class Misery Index

The Kerry campaign modified the old misery index to show the public how bad the economic situation is. I was reading Greg Easterbrook's analysis of this concoction:

"Kerry's index can make you giggle because, in order to be manipulated such that George W. Bush has "the worst record of any president ever," indicators must be chosen that give a great economic rating to Jimmy Carter. Check the Kerry campaign's graph, halfway down the page. When were times best by this index? At the end of the Clinton administration, and in 1978. Can you find one single person in the United States who would want a time-machine ride to the economic conditions of 1978? That was the time of "stagflation," combined inflation and lack of growth. Unemployment was worse in 1978 than today, too."

When I went to the link the stated graph was missing. I did some digging and found the graph mentioned again in another article this author not only referred to the Kerry web site he also included the graph in his story. Just to ensure the graph isn't lost again I posted it here.

With this index the higher the number the better. You can see that a visual image of Kerry's misery index shows former President Carter's term as a bright spot (peaking in 1978). For those of us who remember 1978 (11.5% inflation) this index went from a serious criticism to a down right belly laugh. Apparently the graph had so many people rolling on the floor with laughter that the graph was finally pulled from the page. I guess they're hoping that without the visual they can slide their attack by those who want to believe that the economy is as bad as when Hoover was in office.

Here is a question, what was Hoover's reaction to the economy of the time? He Raised taxes, increased regulation and implemented protectionist tariffs and policies.

Which candidate does that sound like?