“Private conversations with a half-dozen of the smartest Democratic political thinkers — all of whom have played at the highest levels of national campaigns, are genuine Obama backers, and almost never are consulted by the campaign — reveal a consensus of advice for the president: Stop trying to tell voters they’re doing better, offer an optimistic sense of how, if re-elected, you would lead America to more prosperous times, and challenge Republicans with specifics,” writes Albert Hunt Jr. in Bloomberg.
So the problem is one of perception, then? If President Obama’s team could just get the message right, convince the voters that this time we really are heading into “Recovery Summer,” and that from here on we shall all be drinking free bubble-up and eating rainbow stew. It ought to be an easy sell. If the smartest Democratic political thinkers believe it is … then that should settle it.
Still, there is that little nuisance of the President’s record. What, one wonders, do these smart political operators can be done to distract voters’ attentions from unemployment, underwater mortgages, and anemic economic growth?
Well, your smart operators can always be counted upon to think outside the box. As Hunt writes:
That, surely, would fix things.
