On Friday, the Commerce Department gave Americans the bad news.

Economic growth is now tracking at one percent this year - one percent.

That's the weakest start to a year since 2011 and the worst economic recovery since 1949.

That report issued just two days after President Obama said this:

OBAMA: "After the worst recession in 80 years, we fought our way back.  We've seen deficits come down, 401(k)s recover, an auto industry set new records."

And that is true. Big business and the stock market are generally doing well.

But on your street, that might not be the case.

The Wall Street Journal reports that some corporations are not investing in the future.  Rather, they are taking as much profit as they can right now.

That signals that big business does not believe the American economy is robust.

And who suffers?  The worker.  Because jobs are not being created.

So President Obama can say anything he wants, trot out any stats he wants, but the reality is we are living in a country that today has one percent economic growth.

Now how is Hillary Clinton going to handle that, because the economy is the most important issue of the campaign.

Here's what she said Thursday night:

CLINTON: "Our economy is so much stronger than when they took office.  Nearly 15 million new private-sector jobs. Twenty million more Americans with health insurance.  And an auto industry that just had its best year ever. ((EDIT for applause)) Now that's real progress.  But none of us can be satisfied with the status quo."

The problem is, Mrs. Clinton has not defined precise economic measures she would take to change the status quo other than a $275 billion federal investment in public works spending.

But that's taxpayer dollars, not private sector stimulation -- the same scenario President Obama has been using.

Trump, on the other hand, says he will renegotiate all kinds of trade deals and punish corporations who move jobs overseas.

The Republican candidate also says he will cut corporate and personal taxes to stimulate consumer spending and investment.

Hillary Clinton says she will raise taxes on the wealthy but has not clearly defined her corporate tax view.

So you, the voter, have to decide which economic posture you believe will be effective.

Now, on to immigration.  It is here that Trump is most militant.

If elected, he will build a wall on the southern border and bring heavy scrutiny to illegal aliens living in the USA.

There's no wiggle room.  Trump would have to do that.

Secretary Clinton has a much more nuanced approach.

CLINTON: "Comprehensive immigration reform will grow our economy and keep families together - and it's the right thing to do. ((EDIT for applause)) So whatever party you belong to, or if you belong to no party at all, if you share these beliefs, this is your campaign."

These beliefs?

I'm not really sure what that means.

Right now the Democratic Party has no program to secure the southern border.  Apparently the party believes all is well down there.

But the Border Patrol Union has endorsed Trump, so all may not be well.

Also, if you read the Democratic Party platform, it basically says that any illegal alien who does not commit a crime here should be able to stay.

The Bernie Sanders crew wants open borders and complete amnesty for everyone.

Does Hillary Clinton want that?  We don't know yet.

The calculation may be that Hispanic-Americans do not want any immigration action other than assimilation.

If the Clinton campaign comes to that conclusion, the secretary will not say much about illegal immigration other than the clichéd mantra "comprehensive immigration reform."

Finally, terrorism a very big issue - especially if there's another attack in America.

It is clear that Barack Obama's policy toward ISIS and other Islamic jihadists is to defeat them gradually.

The president does not want to commit ground troops even if they are under an international banner like NATO.

Mr. Obama's policy is called "acceptable loses." That is, in the terror conflict, people will die and you don't overreact by committing massive forces to destroy ISIS.

I mean look at what has happened.  ISIS gained power under the Obama administration and while it has been recently set back, it is still the world's most dangerous organization.

And these savages sit there in Raqqa, Syria, 50 miles away from the Turkish border.

Trump says he will defeat ISIS quickly.

But he says he will not tell voters how because then ISIS would know.

But there is no question that Donald Trump is far more aggressive, at least verbally, than President Obama has been on the ISIS situation.

So what does Hillary Clinton do?

Here's what she said on Thursday:

CLINTON: "Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face. From Baghdad to Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, from San Bernardino to Orlando, we're dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated. ((EDIT)) We will strike their sanctuaries from the air, and support local forces taking them out on the ground.  We will surge our intelligence so that we detect and prevent attacks before they happen."

That is the same policy that President Obama has.  Very little difference.

Today, new polling says that Mrs. Clinton did get a bump from her convention.  She's slightly ahead of Donald Trump if you factor in margin of error.

But a political scientist at Stony Brook University in New York says that Trump has an 87% chance of defeating Hillary Clinton in November.

The teacher, Helmut Norpoth, bases his projection on the primary votes in both parties and past presidential elections.

That is speculation, but so are the polls at this point.

Americans will not lock in until after Labor Day and of course the three debates will mean everything this year.

Finally, Hillary Clinton has to decide how much President Obama's support means to her campaign.

It is a given that this election is very personal - African Americans and Hispanics largely supporting her, white Americans supporting Trump in large numbers.

For you far-left smear websites out there, that is a general statement of fact backed up by the polls.

So President Obama campaigning for Hillary Clinton will galvanize the minority vote.

However, it may also drive more working-class white voters into the Trump camp.

Mr. Obama is convinced that his economic programs saved America from a great depression.

But that kind of conjecture means nothing to people who are struggling to pay their bills.

Summing up, Trump offers bold change in his speeches.

Secretary Clinton offers mainly conventional liberal thinking.

She can depart from that to some extent without alienating her party.

But if she repudiates any of President Obama's policies she knows she might alienate him.

And that's the memo.