Yes it could have been said. The US economy has sufficient growth in the private sector part that it can support a surprisingly large level of fiscal & economic drag from government. Hell, most of Europe has an even bigger state sector, but they manage positive growth albeit at lower rates. France has over 50% GDP on the state-controlled part of the economy, vs a little over 30% for US - they have slower long-term growth but haven't gone bust or into depression.
The most likely outcome of Clinton/Obama/Bush policies (essentially the same in economic terms) is just a higher level of drag and thus lower economic growth. Most citizens will not notice it.
The way to solve this problem is not to moan about candidates, parties, or politics. Politicians and parties are representative of the general electorate. If you want more economically literate politicians, then you need more economically literate voters. So, start teaching basic finance & economics to kids starting age 11 and by 18 they will have a clue. They will then demand the same of their political leaders, and you will end up with more sensible economic policy.
