RECAPTURE THE magic, but how? For the past two days President Barack Obama has reverted to Obama the candidate, telling a crowd of 26,000 in Wisconsin that he’s “fired up” and “ready to go”, taking off his tie, rolling up his shirt sleeves.
Mr Obama held four events in two days, in the hope of reinvigorating the young and middle-class voters who elected him before the November 2nd midterm election.
In Albuquerque, Des Moines and Richmond, Mr Obama convened what the White House calls “backyard discussions”, folksy get-togethers with families who volunteer to their local Democratic committee, then invite their friends.
When he stood for president, Mr Obama told “Jeff and Sandy and Tristan and Skyelar” in Des Moines yesterday, “What concerned me most . . . was the nature of our economy and how the American Dream seemed as if it was slipping away for too many people. From 2001 to 2009, the average wage of middle-class families in America actually declined by 5 per cent.”
In his oft-repeated criticism of the Republicans, Mr Obama condemned “the set of policies that had been put in place, whose basic premise was that if we cut taxes, especially for millionaires and billionaires, and if we cut back on rules and regulations for how our industries and companies operate, and then we cut everybody loose . . . to fend for themselves, that somehow the economy would automatically grow.”
An NBC/ Wall Street Journalpoll published yesterday shows that 56 per cent of Americans still believe Mr Obama inherited the economic crisis from the Republicans, while 32 per cent blame his administration for the country's poor fiscal condition. Last January, only 17 per cent held Mr Obama responsible for America's flat economy.
In another fixture of his stump speech, Mr Obama told the Democratic denizens of Des Moines that the Republicans “want to borrow $700 billion to provide tax cuts for the top 2 per cent of Americans, people making more than $250,000 a year.
“It would mean an average of a $100,000 check to millionaires and billionaires.”
House Democrats were yesterday trying to decide whether to table a vote on the tax cuts this week, before they break to campaign for the midterms.
Mr Obama will meet Democratic leaders from the House and Senate today for a final strategy session before the lawmakers disperse to their constituencies.
The high point of Mr Obama’s two-day blitz on the hustings was a speech before 26,000 students at the University of Madison, in Wisconsin, on Tuesday evening, a place where he was wildly cheered in February 2008 when it became evident he would win the Democratic primary.
Three hours before the president bounded on to the stage, students formed a mile-long queue to get through metal detectors.
“The biggest mistake we could make is to let disappointment or frustration lead to apathy,” Mr Obama said.
“That is how the other side wins. If the other side does win, they will spend the next two years fighting for the very same policies that led to this recession in the first place.”
Vice-president Joe Biden was more direct in his condemnation of apathy, telling Democrats to “stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives”.
The president’s rear-guard action to save Democratic majorities in the Senate and especially the House has been weakened by the departure of several high-ranking advisers. The team fighting the midterms is not nearly as organised or dynamic as the group that got Mr Obama elected two years ago.
Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff and former congressman who engineered the Democrats’ 2006 legislative victory, is expected to announce his resignation as early as today or tomorrow because he wants to stand for mayor of Chicago.
Only last week, Mr Obama’s top economic adviser, Larry Summers, announced he was returning to his professorship at Harvard. Peter Orszag resigned as budget director in July, and Christina Romer, who chaired Mr Obama’s economic council, left the White House in August.
David Axelrod, Mr Obama’s closest and most trusted aide, is expected to leave in the spring, to prepare the president’s campaign for re-election.
That will leave Valerie Jarrett, a close personal friend of the Obamas who, like Mr Axelrod, carries the title of senior adviser, "in a position of unparalleled influence over the president," says the Washington Post.