Has Obama Lost the Gift?

It’s been a funny week for Barack Obama. The president, known for his oratory talents that led him to the White House, made a misstep last week; one that created a buzz on the Internet and which Mitt Romney’s team, quite fairly, has exploited.

At a press conference, the forty-fourth U.S. president threw out the following: The private sector is “doing fine.” That’s not totally false, but in a country where the unemployment rate is 8.2 percent, it certainly sounds wrong.

More troubling for the Democrats is Obama’s inability to articulate his message, which is so simple, as Newsweek pointed out this week: “[W]e inherited a total disaster, things are getting better, and Romney will bring us back to disaster.” The idea is always to put the pressure on the challenger and require him to justify himself. Simple. Not for Barack Obama.

It’s true that in the last 27 months, 4.3 million jobs were created – 800,000 in just the last quarter – but 8.2 percent are without jobs, and that’s way too high. In his press conference, however, Obama was incapable of saying that without the job losses in state public sectors and the Republican budget cuts, the unemployment rate would be 7 percent. FDR certainly didn’t hesitate to place blame where it was due. Neither did Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton.

But this inability to fight back, to render blow for blow, infuriates his supporters. This inability to strike hard and fast may lose him the White House.

The story Mitt Romney needs to tell is simple: “He was in office for four years. The economic situation is bad. It’s got to change.” Simple.

The story that Barack Obama must tell is more complex. America lost 800,000 jobs per month because of George W. Bush. Today, the private sector is creating more jobs than it destroys. But if you elect Romney, you’ll get significant tax cuts for the rich and radical budget cuts that America hasn’t seen in living memory; cuts previewed in Paul Ryan’s budget and approved by Romney. If we elect Romney, we will find ourselves right back on the brink of 2008.

If Barack Obama does not find the means to disseminate this message, his campaign will remain in the hole that he’s been digging because of his inability to have a clear and strong message. Barack Obama is on the defensive when he should be on the offensive. It is high time that he snaps out of his lethargy.