Trivia question #1: When do you say, “The average American does not view the economy through the prism of GDP or unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers. People won’t vote based on the unemployment rate, they’re going to vote based on: ‘How do I feel about my own situation? Do I believe the president makes decisions based on me and my family?'”

Answer: When you’re David Plouffe, senior adviser to the president; when the unemployment rate in America is 9.2 percent; and when no president since FDR other than Ronald Reagan won re-election when the unemployment rate was above 7.2 percent in the second term. (Unemployment under Reagan was 7.2 percent and dropping, and the economy was surging, when he was re-elected.)

Trivia question #2: When do you say, “Numbers are going to go up and they’re going to go down. It’s a marathon for us?”

Answer: When you’re Mark Rosenthal, CEO of Current TV, and the person you’ve paid boatloads of money to, Keith Olbermann, has seen his show’s ratings shrink by nearly a third after its inaugural week (during the week of June 27, Olbermann’s show averaged only 93,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic).