Obama is walking a tightrope, but in fact he needs to have more of Clinton and Reagan in his PR approach and less Carter or we are headed for trouble.
I agree dontamasso. He seems to have drifted away from a talent that was a huge contributing factor in making the voters believe in him and elect him president. I feel that he needs to go back to his oral strengths, particualry his ability to make people feel confident and positive. Because if he does not, and he continues to constantly talk down the economy the way that he has of late, then the american people will panic and will not use any of what little money they may have left over to help stimulate the economy. Instead they will dwell on the negatives and live in fear and be apprehensive about spending period!
It is still very early in President Obama's term, and for this reason I feel that if he is able to inject a bit more optimism about this country's future and it's economy, it will have a positive effect on the people and their attitude about this country and it's future.
Well put, DC. I think he needs to be candid about the mess we are in, but he alo needs to use the idea of American Exceptionalism to his advantage. I happen to agree with his approach of taking everything on at once, but he needs to explain himself. He needs to say that this is a holistic approach to the country's problems. He can compare it to treating someone with, say diabetes. You don't just do insulin and then wait a while and take on diet, then wait longer and take on obesity, and then wait longer to recommend exercise....you do it all at once.
He needs to talk about his dreams for a "Renewed America" and give people hope. He can use his upcoming trip to Europe as a platform to talk to us by telling the Europeans how much the USA is already doing to stimulate the economy, and take on the bad guys in Afg hanistan (the comparisons will be obvious). And when he gets back he's got to get away from the "malaise" stuff. Look what it did for Jimmy.
He also needs to show some cojones and threaten to veto anything with too many earmarks in the next budget
