Have Pen, Will Travel

President Obama’s approval ratings are down, the country’s wrong-track numbers are up, the most recent employment numbers came in (“unexpectedly”) as dismal. And as Jennifer Epstein of Politico reports, the president is telling his Cabinet:

“I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone,” Outlining the strategy, Obama said he plans to use his pen to sign executive actions and his phone to convene outside groups in support of his agenda if Congress proves unable or unwilling to act on his priorities.

So today the president is traveling to North Carolina where, as Mark Landler of the New York Times reports, he will: