President Obama has devised a new strategy for dealing with troubling economic developments: Showcase optimism about turning around the economy while reassuring voters that although he understands their fears he isn’t directly responsible for their pain. That challenge the president faces was obvious Wednesday when Obama went to Northern Virginia Community College to promote manufacturing jobs and attempted to portray recent grim job reports as a low point amid broader indications that the economy was rebounding.
“Obviously, we’re slowly recovering from a very painful recession,” Obama said at the Alexandria campus. “But there are too many people out there who are still out of work — without a job that allows them to save a little money or to create the life they want for their families. That’s unacceptable to me. It’s unacceptable to all of you.”
Obama’s message was part of an administration effort to trumpet steady economic progress by pointing to overall job gains and claiming the president is creating a path to widespread prosperity in a global market gradually regaining its footing.
Yet, polls continue to show voters still pessimistic about the economy, with many believing it may get worse before it gets better.
That is troubling for Obama’s re-election prospects, with Republican Mitt Romney, among other GOP candidates, gaining ground on the president.
Voters’ confidence in the strength of the recovery fell this month following Labor Department reports that employers added just 54,000 jobs in May, down from 232,000 in April, and as unemployment rose from 9 percent to 9.1 percent.
Still, Obama told the American public not to panic, proclaiming this week that he’s “not concerned about a double-dip recession.”
Administration officials have repeatedly framed the economic climate as an extension of a recession they inherited from President Bush.
But Republicans have pounced on that narrative, saying that Obama can no longer escape culpability for a sluggish economy two and half years removed from Bush.
White House officials counter that recent grim economic reports should not be viewed in a vacuum.
“When we had very strong jobs reports for three straight months, we did not pop the champagne corks or celebrate either,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney. “While [the jobs report] was under expectations and disappointing, it’s important to look at the long-term trend. There’s ample evidence to suggest this economy is growing.”
Earlier this week, however, the president conceded he didn’t know whether lackluster jobs figures were a blip on the radar or a developing trend.
Further complicating the president’s economic agenda is the demand from Republicans to slash spending — a effort at which Obama took a swipe during his speech to manufacturing executives in Northern Virginia.
“We could say to ourselves — you know what? — given foreign competition and low wages overseas, manufacturing is out the door and there’s not much we can do about it,” he said. “We could decide, in solving our fiscal problems, that we can’t afford to make any of these investments, and those of us who’ve done very well don’t have to pay any more taxes in order to fund these investments.”
He added, “That’s not our history; that’s not who we are.”
