The New Republic : Obama is Campaigning loudly, and insistently, for the jobs bill. Obama is focusing the debate on jobs, to pass legislation that can boost the economy, and to frame a clear political choice for the voters. In short, he’s leading

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The New Republic
Obama Gets It. Do His Followers?
By Jonathan Cohn
September 16, 2011


Obama Gets It. Do His Followers?


Some excerpts :

A week after introducing his jobs proposal, President Obama has hit a few obstacles. Republican leaders are criticizing the proposal more loudly than before. A failed green energy investment has much of Washington thinking scandal. And the polls still look pretty grim.

So what’s Obama doing now? Exactly what he was doing before: Campaigning loudly, and insistently, for the jobs bill.

That’s a really good thing – although he's going to need some help. And he's going to need it soon.

The speech Obama gave last Thursday was everything it needed to be. It was bold, with Obama using it to introduce a jobs program large enough, and sufficiently well designed, to reduce unemployment. And it was straightforward. Obama made it clear he wanted action, now – repeating the phrase “pass this bill” over and over again.

But Obama (almost) always gives good speeches. The most important, and most unexpected, development was what Obama did after the speech. He went on the road, conveying the same message, in Richmond, Virginia and then Columbus, Ohio – not coincidentally, near the home districts of Eric Cantor and John Boehner, number two and number one leader in the House Republican caucus. Speeches can’t alter the public debate. But sustained, focused campaigns can. That's how one begins.

And it's still going. Next week Obama returns to Ohio for yet another speech – this time in front of a bridge. And it’s not just any old bridge. It’s the Brent Spence Bridge, a high-traffic, double-decker span linking Ohio and Kentucky. Officials have declared it “functionally obsolete,” making it a perfect illustration of the need for infrastructure investment. Oh, and did you notice the location? Steve Benen did:

...that the bridge starts in Ohio’s 8th congressional district (home to House Speaker John Boehner) and ends in Kentucky (home to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell) makes it a nearly perfect example. By making infrastructure investments — investments that used to enjoy bipartisan support before the GOP slipped into madness — the Obama administration can repair the Brent Spence Bridge, putting locals back to work, and improving local transportation and commercial needs.

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This much I know: Obama is doing his part to focus the debate on jobs, to pass legislation that can boost the economy, and to frame a clear political choice for the voters. In short, he’s leading. But even the best leaders need help from some followers.

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