Obama may become more combative on economy

President Obama has had of late -- and there's no denying it's been bad -- the recent debt-ceiling hike has managed to draw an already unpopular Congress to new depths, according to a series of new polls.


A CNN/Opinion Research poll shows just 14% of voters approve of Congress's job performance, while 84% disapprove -- both records.
A CBS/New York Times poll has similar numbers -- 14% approve and 82% disapprove of Congress' job performance, the latter an all-time high.
A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll puts Congress' approval even lower -- 10%. That's a drop from 20% in late June.
Just 18% of registered voters in a Washington Post survey said they were inclined to vote to re-elect their representative in Congress -- the lowest number in more than two decades (only once before had it ever dipped below 30%).
Congress has rarely polled very well. But as Arizona Sen. John McCain joked during the 2008 primaries, polling this low means we're down to just close relatives and paid staff in the approval camp.


Administration officials, frustrated by the intransigence of House Republicans, are increasingly turning their attention toward next year's election, reflecting a belief that the best thing the president can do for the economy is to win a second term, with a mandate to advance his ideas on deficit reduction, entitlement change, housing policy and other issues.


The question is whether voters would reward bolder proposals even if they could not pass Congress.


Obama's senior adviser, David Plouffe, and chief of staff, William Daley, have advocated a centrist approach for the past year. That camp argues that Obama should maintain his focus on appealing to independent voters by advocating ideas that can pass Congress, but may not have much economic impact. These include free trade agreements and improved patent protections for inventors.


But others, including Obama's chief economic adviser, Gene Sperling, and congressional Democrats, have been pressing the president to channel what they see as rising public anger about Washington's management of the economy. They argue that the fallout from the debt ceiling debate has weakened Republicans and created an opening for bolder ideas, like expanding payroll tax cuts. Either Republicans agree and the economy benefits, they say, or the president can campaign against their opposition.


Republicans contend that the Obama administration has mismanaged the nation's recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. Obama's political advisers are struggling to define a response, aware that their prospects may rest on convincing voters that the results of the first term matter less than the contrast between their vision for the next four years and the economic ideas offered by Republicans.


Administration officials say that their focus is on a number of smaller programs that could benefit the economy, a theme Obama has emphasized in his recent speeches.