I'm skeptical of one part of the article

The truth, though it would not exactly set Americans free, would at least open a window to wider economic and political understanding. Readers should ask themselves how much angrier the electorate might be if the media, over the past five years, had been citing 8 percent unemployment (instead of 5 percent), 5 percent inflation (instead of 2 percent), and average annual growth in the 1 percent range (instead of the 3-4 percent range).

I'm tempted to answer "not much". I suspect most voters base their choice on their own financial situation, and that of people they know, not on statistics. The statistics are mainly for policy-makers, journalists etc. Once these get detached from reality, you have pundits asking why the electorate is so dissatisfied with Bush's policies, when the economy is doing so well....