With much on the line and a short window to improve his political standing, President Obama is shedding his trademark cool and aloof demeanor in favor of a tougher, more assertive pose.
The image makeover is part of a broader White House strategy to capitalize on the passage of health care reform and rebrand Obama as a dynamic leader — an image that has suffered in the past year of legislative and political setbacks.
“The 2008 campaigning Obama is back,” said Graham Wilson, a Boston University political scientist. “Certainly the days of Obama being a punching bag for the Republicans seem to be over.”
Wilson noted the president’s new, more confrontational style coincides with the return of former campaign manager David Plouffe into the administration’s political wing. Plouffe, who recently published a book about the 2008 campaign, is strategizing the Democrats’ 2010 election efforts.
The revised Obama was on display in an interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer for the “Today” show, where the president criticized Republicans for opposing health reform strictly for political gain.
“I think what happened is they made a calculation, which if you are thinking in terms of short-term politics, you can see the argument,” Obama said. “Their attitude is, ‘Look, if we stop this bill, if we stop this president here, then that will give us a lot of political benefit in November.’ ”
Many Republicans opposed the bill on ideological grounds and complained that Obama’s much-hyped efforts at bipartisanship were largely cosmetic.
His dismissal of Republican critics as part of the larger, corrosive Beltway political culture is part of a still-new White House strategy for blaming Washington while trying to position Obama above the fray.
The news media, which has become more critical of the White House, also drew censure from Obama, who complained that journalists focus on political extremities rather than trying to “solve problems.”
“There’s something about the political culture here in Washington that is a chronic problem,” Obama said. “I haven’t solved it yet.”
Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University, described Obama’s earlier political style as “based on the notion that we should all come and reason together.”
“Politics just isn’t like that,” Goldford said.
During his first year in office, some Democrats and even friendly columnists and commentators described Obama as isolated, remote and professorial.
Though the November elections are still seven months away, the administration has to show progress on several fronts, particularly jobs and the economy, well enough ahead of the vote to have an influence on the result.
“The public needs to see a different side of him, because the poll numbers have been plummeting for a while,” said Susan MacManus, a political scientist at the University of South Florida. “In tough times, people want to see strong leadership with soft touch.”
