By MIKE JONES Associate Editor on Sep 9, 2011, at 4:10 PM Updated on 9/09 at 4:10 PM
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The next few weeks, maybe months, are going to be interesting, and possibly telling.
President Obama unveiled his $450 billion jobs plan to a joint session of Congress Thursday evening. It received the expected mixed reviews.
Whether you agree or disagree with the proposal, what happens next could make or break not only Obama’s jobs plan but his bid for re-election, not to mention this country’s future.
The president plans to hit the road to convince the American public that his plan is what is needed to jumpstart the lagging economy. If his speech Thursday is any indication, he might have some success.
His speech to Congress was Obama at his best. He challenged Congress, especially the Republicans and especially those Republicans of the tea party persuasion, to cooperate with the White House, pass the bill and get Americans working.
How he is received on his barnstorming mission across the country will be critical to his plan’s success.
Obama is suffering in the polls, particularly those polls dealing with the economy. He must be hearing the voice of James Carville from 1992, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Unless he can reduce the unemployment rate to below 9 percent by next year, his chances of being re-elected worsen.
The good news for Obama is that the Republicans so far have offered up a very weak group of candidates. John Huntsman, maybe the smartest and, unfortunately for him, the more moderate of the group, has no chance. He’s too moderate to win a Republican primary.
If Obama is to win in 2012, he must convince the American voters that although his administration has not yet pulled the country back from the abyss, a return to a Republican government would likely push it over the edge.
Franklin D. Roosevelt fought the same fight for re-election. His message was that Republican methods were what got the country in the mess of the Great Depression in the first place. With humor, he pointed that Republicans now wanted to return to those bad old days.
A massive infusion of government money pulled the U.S. out of the Great Depression. Yes, much of that money was used in the military buildup. Well, we’re in a war now. The U.S. needs to fund alternate energy and put people back to work repairing bridges, highways and schools. Americans need to spend money but they need jobs to get the money.
That is what Obama needs to convince people of during his trip. He needs to speak with compassion and passion and, yes, sometimes with humor.
The people must listen, his future and the country’s depend on it.
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