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As President Barack Obama attempts to refocus attention on an improving economy with a speech tomorrow, hes got two problems.

He has to make a compelling enough argument to distract the publics focus from the latest, messy turn of events: Ebolas arrival in the U.S. and failings by the Secret Service that could cost his appointee and the first woman to lead the agency her job.

And he must find a way to translate positive national economic data into something that resonates personally with Americans.

One of the strengths for the White House, believe it or not, actually is the economy, said Tony Fratto, a former assistant Treasury secretary and spokesman for President George W. Bush. Whats problematic for him, Fratto said of Obama, is that most Americans dont believe it.

The economy is in its sixth year of expansion following the 18-month recession that ended June 2009, and the jobless rate is down to 6.1 percent from a 26-year high of 10 percent in October 2009.

Still, more than 7 million Americans work part time because they cant find full-time jobs, and wage growth barely outpaces inflation. And those, said Fratto, are the data-points dragging Obama down.

Even as job creation has increased and job growth has increased, wages have not, he said.

The presidents speech at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management comes as Democrats are fighting to hold control of the Senate in the November midterm elections. In a Sept. 28 interview with CBSs 60 Minutes, Obama said hes confident they can succeed -- if their message on jobs and growth can break through the clutter.

Eric Dezenhall, a crisis-management consultant, said Americans have such an evangelical belief in the power of P.R. that we actually think communications can overwhelm harsh realities, when in reality you cant change the subject when people dont want to. Obama is dealing with very tangible events that are far larger than rhetoric, so hes very limited in what his options are.

Some of Obamas problems are absolutely self-inflicted, and then you put it in an environment where some things are beyond your control and it looks pretty bad, Fratto said. To get ahead of his problems, Obama should make his remarks forward-looking.

See the article here:
Obama Political Reset: Focus Elections on the Economy