Coming soon to a bus stop near you may be the president of the United States. Faced with growing criticism of his economic leadership, Barack Obama is following the lead of Willie Nelson and traveling by bus to selected parts of the USA. Obama wants to calm the folks and show them that he is in high spirits. That is a bit different from Willie, who usually leaves off the word “spirits.”

Anyway, what the president will likely encounter on his road trip is confusion. After more than 2 1/2 years in office, many Americans simply do not understand exactly who he is. Even pundits, paid to analyze him, see him in drastically different ways.