As a summer of severe political and economic tumult winds down, President Obama is in quiet consultations with advisors from his vacation compound in Martha's Vineyard, mapping out a jobs package that he hopes can boost a sluggish economy and win over voters who are coming to doubt his leadership.
Obama raised expectations during his Midwest bus tour this week that the jobs plan would mark a kind of reset for his presidency. He could use a fresh start: In a Gallup poll, public approval of Obama's handling of the economy fell to 26%, the lowest of his presidency.
Republicans bested him in the months-long fight over raising the debt ceiling by using the threat of economic catastrophe as a cudgel to rein in spending and reject any tax increases. World stock markets are reeling, and a new forecast by Morgan Stanley said the United States and Europe were "dangerously close" to lapsing back into recession.
As his bus stopped in rural hamlets and towns, a feisty Obama issued an ultimatum to the GOP: Join him and pass a jobs plan or risk being viewed by the public as the party that only blocks, never compromises.
The question is whether the president can deliver. The administration's plan comes right from the Obama playbook: a high-stakes speech meant to give his political fortunes an instant jolt. Such tactics haven't worked of late. Obama's overall job approval rating dipped below 40% for the first time last week — higher than Congress' rating but below where a president up for reelection wants to be.
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| Doesn't this face just scream "confidence?" |
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