President Obama has wielded many of the tools available to his White House in hopes of moving public opinion on stalled deficit negotiations, but the message blitz has not caught on with most Americans, causing some to wonder if his options are exhausted.
“The public is suffering from apocalypse fatigue,” said Charles Walcott, a political scientist at Virginia Tech, who focuses on the presidency. “People aren’t buying it until they see proof [of economic calamity]. Until then, I don’t know what else he can do.”
Although Obama has made progress in portraying Republicans as obstructionists, most Americans have not embraced the president’s stance on the consequences of not raising the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling.
According to the most recent Gallup poll, nearly twice as many Americans want their Congress member to vote against raising the debt ceiling as to vote for raising it — 42 percent versus 22 percent. One third of those polled were unsure of the proper solution. Experts said that illustrates the president’s failure to reach those outside Washington, many of whom see the debate as political posturing.
In the past week, Obama has presided over five meetings with congressional leaders at the White House, held two press conferences and conducted local and national television interviews about the importance of reaching a deal before the Aug. 2 deadline. Yet, the sides appear only marginally closer to an agreement, and the White House says daily meetings will continue until a compromise is brokered.
Some experts said Obama’s tactics are working — but slowly.
“I think the public is moving on this,” said Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar with the Brookings Institution. “My feeling is he’s done everything possible so far and that he better do it again and again and again.”
Hess pointed to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who stunned many conservatives, when he proposed giving Obama the authority to raise the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion without spending cuts.
“He’s no pushover; that was very significant,” Hess said, adding that McConnell’s move reflected a shift in public pressures.
Others predict that a fast-approaching deadline is Obama’s most valuable weapon in ultimately winning over the public.
“It’s somewhat like a political campaign,” said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia. “People tune in to it at different times. Get a little closer to Aug. 2, and people might say, ‘Oh my gosh; this is bad.'”
If Republicans overplay their hand, Bullock said, the situation could mirror the government shutdown of the mid-1990s, when the public largely rallied behind President Clinton and placed the blame on House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
For the most part, the White House has strayed away from projecting the doomsday scenarios of government default. However, Obama this week suggested Social Security checks might not be mailed if the debt ceiling were not raised, a move Republicans dismissed as a scare tactic.
When asked if Obama was frustrated by the lack of results, White House press secretary Jay Carney said, “He’s not. I think there is more progress than is necessarily perceived on the outside.”
