Here’s a riddle: Many Republicans deny it’s happening. Some Democrats don’t want to talk about it. What is it?

The answer is the growing U.S. economy, on pace to expand as much as 3.5 percent this year, about the best performance in the industrialized world. Unemployment has fallen from 10 percent to about 6.3 percent and consumer confidence is at a six-year high.

Better economic data could help persuade voters in November to look past President Barack Obama’s weak approval ratings and his unpopular healthcare law and give Democrats enough lift to hold onto the Senate and limit their losses in the House, political strategists said. Yet a debate about the actual state of the economy, which Americans consistently rate in polls as among their top concerns, may be missing in the run-up to Congressional elections.

“It’s bad for Democrats to make the argument the economy is improving. Bad, bad, bad,” said Erica Seifert, a senior associate at Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, which advises many Democratic candidates.

Instead, many Democrats are focused on promoting ways to improve the economy — raising the minimum wage, providing affordable college education and closing the pay gap between men and women — all while ignoring the positive signs.

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