It's a question made famous by Ronald Reagan during his 1980 campaign, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"
Now, it's becoming the question once again.
FOX 28 took the "better off" question to folks in Elkhart County, a county labeled "ground zero" of the economic downturn.
Some say things are worse now than four years ago, others say they're getting better.
"Money went way down at $22.50 an hour to 13 bucks an hour and I've had three owners in the last four years and every time we got a new owner, I lost seniority. I lost fourteen years," says Chris Demien of Nappanee.
"I think the country's better off. I like our President. I think he's on the right track. I think he needs a chance to continue what he planned," says Gerrit Huig of Goshen.
On a national level, Republicans say we are "not" better off than we were four years ago.
The Jobless rate is up and one-third of mortgages are still underwater.
But the Democrats have some counter-points.
They defend President Obama, saying "yes" we are better off.
The GDP is up and so are corporate profits and hourly wages.
