As President Obama prepares to deliver another major speech on the economy, his supporters demand a job growth plan that's big and bold, even as they prepare to be underwhelmed.
"The president has just got to become much more aggressive about what his vision is, where he wants to get the economy and why other approaches are not as good as his. Period," said Simon Rosenberg, a former adviser to President Clinton and founder of the New Democrat Network.
Many Democrats say they want to hear a forceful presidential push for new stimulus spending and middle-class tax cuts, with less emphasis on deficit reduction and government spending cuts they say could stunt job creation and hamper economic recovery.
Others, rankled by the administration's willingness to compromise with Republicans during the recent debt ceiling debate, also want Obama to draw a clearer line in the sand over tax hikes for the wealthy and protecting entitlement programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, from cuts.
Obama needs to stop "nibbling around the edge," AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka told reporters last week, as he criticized the administration's economic strategy. "History will judge him, and I think working people will judge him."
President Obama: America Will Come Back Stronger
Watch Video "Unemployment is unconscionable," said an exasperated Rep. Maxine Waters at a Congressional Black Caucus town hall meeting earlier this month. "We don't know what his strategy is."
The latest Gallup poll shows Obama's job approval rating has slumped to a new low of 38 percent, while his disapproval rating has inched up to a new high of 55 percent.
And there is growing skepticism over whether another Obama jobs plan can do what previous plans could not.
"There's an austerity-led approach that Republicans are offering, and there's a more investment-led approach the president laid out," said Rosenberg. "That distinction has to be made clearer for the American people to understand there's a choice. Moreover, the ultimate concern of his has to be to do the right thing for the country, not to appease the Republican Party."
In the midst of all this, Republicans hoping to unseat Obama in 2012 are lining up to release job plans of their own.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman will unveil a jobs proposal Wednesday, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is slated to roll out his plan Sept. 6. One day later, the GOP candidates will take the stage at a presidential debate that will likely focus on the economy and jobs.
Strategists said Obama's address next week could be his last chance to reclaim control of the narrative on jobs, which Republicans have sought to exploit as the 2012 campaign kicks into high gear.
"He's out of mulligans and he's out of time," communications strategist Michael W. Robinson, a former member of the George H.W. Bush administration, said of Obama. "One thing he's not out of is support. But he's going to be if he doesn't make a decision to be bold. He's got to look around and decide how he can get the most people back to work the fastest with the election quickly approaching."
Obama's jobs speech will likely include a renewed push for several familiar pieces of pending legislation, such as a payroll tax cut extension, additional unemployment benefits, three international trade deals and an infrastructure project bank, officials said.
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