Article- Obama aides and allies call for economy to be bigger, bolder topic

[Black]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five months into President Barack Obama's second term, allies and former top aides worry that his overarching goal of economic opportunity has been diminished, partly drowned out by controversies seized upon by Republicans in an effort to weaken him.
The former White House insiders, including longtime Obama adviser David Axelrod, say Obama needs to make his case anew for government's role in expanding education and innovation and to give, as Obama put it in one of his early seminal speeches, "every American a fighting chance in the 21st century."
More:

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-urged-econom...33020.html


My thoughts-- I don't pretend to be an economist, but I think the concept of "a watched pot never boils" roughly applies here, or maybe a better analogy might be not asking someone about their bowling technique right before they bowl (unless you purposely want to screw them up) ...and I think the strategy of not calling attention to the economy that Obama has been applying is the right one.
I'm sure all of y'all agree with me 100%.

[Lemon Drop]

I think they want to talk about pretty much anything except the IRS, the AP, and Benghazi.

[Black]

Lemon Drop wrote:
I think they want to talk about pretty much anything except the IRS, the AP, and Benghazi.

Sure. But I don't think the economy is the right choice for a big distractor.

Bushco did fine with gay marriage, immigration, and stem cell research. My personal bias is that some sort of progress in transportation policy could get a boost by being pushed to the forefront (unless bringing it up backfires, of course...)

[Lemon Drop]

On the plus side, I think social security and medicare are safe now. Republicans will be too distracted to continue their push to dismantle the social safety net.

[$tevie]

The IRS ans AP "scandals" will fall victim to our national ADD, which is also the reason that people have forgotten to worry about the economy. Benghazi will remain the focus of those folks who won't give up the dream of turning it into impeachment proceedings, but most of the country will tire of that, too. We will have a good half dozen "scandals" to replace all this, since it is obvious that this is a perfect storm of right wing thirst for blood and media thirst for ratings. Welcome to the new normal.

Meanwhile, Obama's approval rating is hanging in there. People are concerned but not ready to condemn. That's another reason why I think this will blow over.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/201...erreacted/

I don't think this "rebuild the middle class" thing has any legs, however. People like to be "anti" these days, not "pro". Thinking about the future in a positive manner is so 1993.

[$tevie]

Here's our next big thing:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/201...sm-drones/

There is plenty to discuss on that topic and this speech will no doubt infuriate everyone and grab all the attention for a bit.