Obama Urged to Make Economy Big Topic  05/19 15:27

   Five months into President Barack Obama's second term, allies and former top 
aides worry that his overarching goal of economic opportunity has been 
diminished, partly drowned out by controversies seized upon by Republicans in 
an effort to weaken him.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five months into President Barack Obama's second term, 
allies and former top aides worry that his overarching goal of economic 
opportunity has been diminished, partly drowned out by controversies seized 
upon by Republicans in an effort to weaken him.

   The former White House insiders, including longtime Obama adviser David 
Axelrod, say Obama needs to make his case anew for government's role in 
expanding education and innovation and to give, as Obama put it in one of his 
early seminal speeches, "every American a fighting chance in the 21st century."

   Among their suggestions is that the president deliver a major address, 
perhaps at a commencement, that once again places his economic vision at the 
center of his agenda and speaks to what continues to be the overriding concern 
of the American public.

   Instead, absent major legislative victories, Obama's second term has become 
a series of small actions overshadowed by a trio of recent troubles over the 
administration's response to the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four 
Americans, the IRS's targeting of conservative groups and the Justice 
Department's seizure of Associated Press phone records as part of a leak 
investigation.

   "The hardest thing in the hot house of Washington in weeks like this is to 
get above the maelstrom and really define major issues in your own terms," 
Axelrod said. "They need to find big platforms, whether it's congressional 
addresses, commencement speeches, high-profile interviews or a combination of 
those things and others."

   As these Democrats see it, there has been an arc of Obama addresses that 
have spelled out the challenge and the hope of attaining the American Dream, 
from a 2005 commencement address at tiny Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., to 
his speech in Osawatomie, Kan., in late 2011, and that the time for another one 
is now.

   Over the last two weeks, Obama has been trying to draw attention to his 
job-creation ideas with small events in Austin and, on Friday, in Baltimore. 
The daytime visits have been coupled with modest executive initiatives that 
tend to garner local media attention but get lost in Washington's attention to 
the contentious issues of the moment.

   "There does seem to be a risk of getting bogged down in noise," said Jared 
Bernstein, who was part of Obama's economic team when he served as Vice 
President Joe Biden's chief economist. "He doesn't need to get out to talk 
about Benghazi and the IRS and the budget deficit. He needs to talk about 
investment in the nation's productivity."

   Obama has called for more government spending on education, public works 
projects, and research and development and has proposed paying for it largely 
with higher taxes. But after letting one tax increase on the rich pass at the 
beginning of the year, Republicans have steadfastly refused any further tax 
hikes and have resisted Obama's spending plans. The result has been a fruitless 
search, at least so far, for a "grand bargain" to trim the nation's long-term 
debt.

   In the face of Republican-led investigations in Congress and with some 
conservatives even suggesting impeachment proceedings against the president, 
some Obama advisers say that boldly elevating the economy would create a sharp 
contrast and emphasize their belief that Republicans are overplaying their 
hand. They note that as dissatisfaction with Washington has grown, Obama has 
continued to hold a substantial edge over the Republicans in Congress.

   House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said that creating jobs is the top 
priority of Republicans, too, but "we're also focused on holding this 
administration accountable" about what happened in Libya and with the IRS.

   If Obama has a single long-term governing priority, it is a deep-seated 
belief that advances in technology and globalization have translated into a 
significant consumer benefits but have also eroded middle-class gains. "The 
result has been the emergence of what some call a 'winner take all' economy, in 
which a rising tide doesn't necessarily lift all boats," he wrote in his 2006 
book, "The Audacity of Hope."

   The opportunity to make a broad shift toward the economy might have 
presented itself this week, when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office 
predicted that the budget deficit for 2013 will be $642 billion --- lower than 
estimated and half of the record $1.4 trillion hit during Obama's first year in 
office. Instead, that bit of news was overshadowed by the IRS, Benghazi and AP 
phone record controversies.

   Armed with a lower deficit number, some of Obama's liberal critics say he 
should abandon efforts to reduce deficits and focus exclusively on jobs.

   "They should declare victory," said Lawrence Mishel, president and CEO of 
the liberal Economic Policy Institute. "Making the big policy and political 
project the grand bargain has been digging us in a deeper and deeper hole."

   White House officials say the time to pause and deliver the type of major 
address that connects Obama's policies to his core beliefs is when it has the 
possibility of making a major impact. For now, they say, their economic tour 
across the country is better suited to the moment.

   "What we think that these tours do is add another dimension to the argument 
of what we're trying to get done with Congress," White House communications 
director Jennifer Palmieri said. "That this is not just about budgets, this is 
about steps that Congress can take legislatively and the president can take 
unilaterally that will create jobs and help middle-class families."

   How to emphasize Obama's jobs agenda was a subject Thursday during a meeting 
between top White House aides and outside Democratic operatives, many of whom 
had worked for Bill Clinton's administration. They had been called by Obama 
chief of staff Denis McDonough to consult and offer ideas on how to respond to 
the most recent uproars. Among those attending were such Clinton aides as Paul 
Begala and Mike McCurry.

   "What the president can do is make decisions about what he wants to talk to 
the American people about," said Democratic consultant Tad Devine, who also 
attended Thursday's meeting. "And my view is, as someone who spends time 
sitting in focus groups listening to voters, what's at the top of mind with 
them is the economy still."


(KA)