Can Ben Bernanke buoy the economy and fend off Fed critics, too? (+video)

He faces critics on the left, though, who argue the Fed is doing too little to bring down joblessness. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, has been among those in this camp. Mr. Sanders also has been leading a charge to reform the governance of regional Fed banks, where private-sector bankers play a prominent role as directors even as the Fed is tasked with regulatory oversight of their companies.

Bernanke's response, so far, is partly that Congress created the Fed's governance system, and can change it if lawmakers choose.

Bernanke was appointed by President Bush and reappointed by President Obama to a four year term ending in 2014.

Romney, by indicating his preference for replacing Bernanke with someone who supports a "strong dollar," has drawn fire from liberals.

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research, says this amounts to a bid to prop up an already-strong dollar, which weakens the ability of American firms to export.

"Romney committed himself to picking a Federal Reserve Board chairman who will try to keep workers' wages down, likely costing them tens of thousands of dollars over the next decade," is the way Mr. Baker summarizes this position, in a column this week for Huffington Post.

It's not suprising that, during an election year and with unemployment high, the Fed and monetary policy have become hot issues. But many don't buy the view of the Fed as an arch villain of the past decade. Conservative members of a commission on the 2008 financial crisis, for example, concluded that "US monetary policy may have contributed to the credit bubble but did not cause it."

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