At a fundraising event in New York City last night, President Obama told a crowd, “I’m going to need another term to finish the job.”

To which many Americans will respond: That’s what we’re afraid of.

The Republican argument, it seems to me, goes something like this: virtually every economic indicator is worse since Obama took office. That’s true whether we’re talking about unemployment, the deficit, the debt, America’s credit rating, consumer confidence, the housing market, health care costs, poverty, food stamps, and more. We’re setting records we haven’t seen since the Great Depression, and in some instances records worse than the Great Depression.

But if you don’t feel like America has suffered enough — if you are thirsting for more stagnation, less growth, higher unemployment, and more misery — then Barack Obama is your man.

Eleven months from now Americans will have a chance to decide just how much more pain they want inflicted on themselves. My view is they have endured enough.

No mas.