Obama to Hit Reset Button on Campaign in Ohio - East Idaho News
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Obama to Hit Reset Button on Campaign in Ohio

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Getty P 052412 Obama?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1339670091530JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/GettyImages(WASHINGTON) — President Obama will use a speech in Ohio on Thursday to hit a reset button on his re-election campaign, following a stretch of bad economic news and messaging missteps that have shaken Democrats’ confidence and caused some allies to sound the alarm.

At a community college outside Cleveland, Obama will seek to frame the economic debate with presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, casting the November election as a stark choice rather than a referendum on his record.  He will also warn that a President Romney would doom the middle class.

“Gov. Romney and his allies in Congress believe that if you simply take away regulations and cut taxes by trillions of dollars, the market will solve all our problems on its own,” said a campaign official describing the arc of Obama’s speech.  “The president believes the economy grows not from the top down, but from the middle class up, and he has an economic plan to do that.”

It’s a case that Obama has been pushing for weeks in smaller campaign appearances with donors and grassroots volunteers.  But he’s now under pressure to articulate it more convincingly and broadly, as polls show a tightening race headed into the summer with many swing voters still making up their minds about the Republican nominee.

“You’ve got to be able to say, ‘we’ve saved you from the abyss and we’re moving incrementally forward,'” said a strategist affiliated with the Obama campaign.  The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, conceded, “That’s just a tough message but it happens to be the environment you’re in.”

“You’ve also got to take this period to help educate the American public as to who is this guy; let’s fill in the blanks,” the strategist said.

Some Democrats, pointing to recent focus groups and polling data, worried publicly this week that Obama’s pitch on progress in the economy isn’t resonating with voters in key states, leaving him politically vulnerable and at risk of appearing out of touch.  There are also concerns in some circles that attacks on Romney’s record in private equity and as governor are not sticking well enough.

White House and campaign officials insist that their game plan is working and will succeed over the long haul.  They frequently note that the president has high public opinion ratings on empathy with Americans who are struggling financially.  And they say he has presented detailed legislative proposals that would immediately put more workers back on the job.

“The problem here isn’t the president’s campaign staff and message he’s put together, it’s the economy that he inherited and is working hard to fix,” said former White House aide and senior Priorities USA strategist Bill Burton.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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