He is determined to fly his Administration into the ground at full 
speed.  Watch Democrats start to abandon him in order to seek 
reelection...

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870341580457502350357824338
6.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

JANUARY 24, 2010.White House Toughens Tone 
Amid Concern About Midterms, Obama Boosts Staff and Emphasizes Jobs.

By JONATHAN WEISMAN 
WASHINGTON—Coming off one of the most difficult weeks of his presidency, 
Barack Obama has beefed up his political staff and is expected to 
deliver an uncompromising State of the Union address. Aides said Sunday 
that the White House wasn't making any abrupt policy shifts, even as the 
message was retooled to focus more sharply on job creation.

If anything, an unfinished agenda from 2009 will grow larger as, in 
addition to tackling health care and unemployment, the president presses 
for a bipartisan commission to tackle the budget deficit against 
resistance from Republicans.

White House officials said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe would be 
brought on as a political consultant as the White House gears up for the 
midterm elections. 

The president's party is facing a stiff headwind from an electorate 
angry about high unemployment and what they see as ineffectual 
government, White House officials said. Republican Scott Brown's capture 
of the Massachusetts Senate seat Tuesday was a first shot in what 
Democrats worried would be hard-fought contests in November

"People are working harder," White House senior adviser David Axelrod 
said Sunday on ABC's "This Week," referring to the economy. "If they 
have a job, they're working harder for less. They're falling behind. 
That's been true for a decade. They look at a wave of irresponsibility 
from Wall Street to Washington that led to that. And those were the 
frustrations that got the president elected in the first place, and they 
were reflected again on Tuesday" in the Massachusetts election.

Republicans, meanwhile, said their victory in Massachusetts was spurred 
by opposition to the health overhaul. "The message in Massachusetts was 
absolutely clear," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky 
said on NBC's "Meet The Press." "The exit polls that I looked at said 
48% of the people in Massachusetts said they voted for the new senator 
over health care. Only 5% mentioned any other issue. The American people 
had a victory in Massachusetts, and they were sending us the message 
'Stop and start over.' "

The re-emergence of Mr. Plouffe on the political stage took some 
Democratic officials by surprise, though White House officials said he 
wouldn't have a title and wouldn't work from the White House. Mr. 
Axelrod, in emails to The Wall Street Journal, dismissed as "overblown" 
the speculation that an enhanced role for Mr. Plouffe was a prelude to a 
shake-up of the political staff or a change of course by the White 
House. Although Mr. Plouffe will be consulted on political strategy and 
communications, "he is not coming into the White House. He is not, as 
some have reported, going to somehow take over the party committees," 
Mr. Axelrod said. "He will bring added value and an outside perspective 
we need."

The message Mr. Plouffe is bringing was a collaborative effort by him, 
White House officials and the leadership of the Democratic National 
Committee. That message is one of no retreat in the face of polling that 
shows opposition to the president's push to overhaul health care and 
discontent with his economic efforts.

Writing in Sunday's Washington Post, Mr. Plouffe said Democrats needed 
to quickly pass a broad health overhaul, get serious about job creation 
even as they tout the impact of last year's stimulus package, turn up 
the heat on Republicans over the deficits incurred in the Bush years, 
and stop grousing about the political climate.

"Instead of fearing what may happen, let's prove that we have more than 
just the brains to govern—that we have the guts to govern. Let's fight 
like hell," Mr. Plouffe wrote, striking the same chord Mr. Obama did at 
a town-hall meeting in Ohio Friday and likely will Wednesday in his 
first State of the Union address.

On "Meet the Press," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said, 
"What we learned from the Massachusetts victory is that people are sick 
and tired of Washington not delivering for them."

Republicans said Mr. Brown's victory was a repudiation of the Obama 
agenda, not just of Democratic dithering. Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) 
urged the president to move to the center and engage Republicans.

Mr. Obama did that on one issue. On Saturday, he endorsed legislation in 
the Senate to create a bipartisan commission to tackle the budget 
deficit, with an up-or-down vote in Congress on its recommendations at 
the end of the year. A vote on creating that commission is scheduled in 
the Senate for Tuesday, and it is not expected to pass.

White House officials hope the president's endorsement of the bill will 
soften Republican opposition to his plan to create a similar commission 
by executive order. That commission will need GOP cooperation to fill 
eight of the 18 seats on the panel with Republicans.

Concurrently, a group of retired senators on Monday plans to announce 
that former Republican Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici 
and Alice Rivlin, a top Democratic economist, will spearhead a yearlong 
effort to devise a plan to slash the federal debt. Unlike many other 
studies, the Domenici-Rivlin panel will put forward a detailed blueprint 
for the country's future solvency.

That could help the presidential panel win political support as well. 
The Domenici-Rivlin panel is backed by former Republican Sens. Robert 
Dole and Howard Baker, and Democrat Tom Daschle.

—Neil King Jr. contributed to this article.

CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999 
Barak Obama thinks we can spend our way to prosperity .....

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