Punchy Obama irks Republicans

Throwing populist punches, President Barack Obama is out to dispel the woes of August and outmaneuver Republicans over the $447 billion (Dhs1,461bn) jobs bill on which his political fate may depend.

Posing as a warrior for the Middle Class, Obama has pruned his stump speech, of the lofty rhetoric which made his name.

In its place is a simple argument -- Republicans are on the side of the rich not the jobless, and his plan puts people back to work and more money in the pockets of working Americans."

"If you want to create jobs right now -- pass this bill," a Obama roared at a raucous event at a school in crucial swing state Ohio on Tuesday.

"If you want construction workers renovating schools like this one -- pass this bill. If you want to put teachers back in the classroom -- pass this bill. "My message to Congress is, what on Earth are we waiting for?" Obama said, holding up his bill in a pugnacious pitch that has irked his political enemies.

Seeking to boost the worst approval ratings of his presidency and to rebuild trust with voters on the economy, Obama has set out on a countrywide campaign blitz that senior aides say will last for months.

In a 17-minute speech in Ohio, Obama shouted "Pass this bill" 15 times, as supporters took up his refrain -- offering flattering television pictures of the president in the heartland.

The pared-down speech seems to be an answer to those Democrats who feared Obama had lost the stomach for the fight after a string of reversals to Republicans who gave his Democrats a "shellacking" in 2010 mid-term elections.

That whispering became particularly acute during August, when the US economy created zero jobs, raising new doubts over his 2012 reelection projects.

However, Obama's new approach has yet to change the painful political dynamics casting a cloud of his reelection bid.

With unemployment at 9.1 percent and not expected to tumble significantly before election day, and with economic growth stagnant, Republican presidential candidates can smell blood.

Many observers also think that Obama's bill has questionable prospects in Congress, and is sure to be picked apart by House Republicans in Congress who believe prior stimulus spending has failed.

Obama unveiled the new plan, a mix of payroll tax cuts and infrastructure investments, in a joint address to Congress last week.

Monday, the White House angered Republicans by saying he planned to pay for the bill with curtailed itemized deductions for the wealthiest Americans and closed tax breaks for energy corporations and corporate jet owners.

Republicans have taken a dim view of Obama's campaign, which will take in another key swing state, North Carolina on Wednesday, and will include a flurry of presidential travel in the months to come.

Mitch McConnell, leader of Republicans in the Senate, said Democrats acknowledged that it was an open secret that Obama's plan was not a jobs plan but a reelection plan.

"They've said that despite the President's calls to pass this bill immediately, the real plan is to let it hang out there for a while so Democrats can use it as an issue on the campaign trail."

Eric Cantor, the hardcharging Republican House majority leader who infuriates the White House, took exception to Obama's attitude.

"To say 'pass my bill' 17 times is not the tone nor is it a way forward for us that will be acceptable to the American people," he said.

Senior Obama administration officials however believe they have the Republicans in a bind, as Americans desperate for economic relief tire of obstruction on Capitol Hill.

They say Republicans who returned to their districts for the summer got an earful from voters who want to see jobs.

Officials also point to the approval ratings of Congress -- in the teens -- 30 points below those of Obama in mid-to-low 40 percent range, and suggest Republicans may lose enough seats in 2012 to put the House in play.

Obama's new approach has heartened supporters tired of seeing their president take repeated blows from Republicans.

Liberal Senator Bernie Sanders said Obama was right to make a populist argument that the rich should bear a larger share of reviving the economy.

"It's the right thing to do, and I think politically it will work well for him," Sanders told AFP.

Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner said Obama must show Americans there are choices to be made, in stirring growth and cutting the deficit.

"You almost have to sell the problem before you sell the solution sometimes. But the problem's been pretty well sold at this point -- now we've got to sell a solution."

"I'm glad to see him out there fighting for it."

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.