Can president regain his political footing?

With polls showing that President Obama is losing ground, The Washington Post asked political experts what he could do to regain the initiative. Here’s what some of them said.

NED ROGERS

Chairman of BGR Group; White House staffer to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

While the president’s effectiveness is eroding, the situation is not dire. He can regain the initiative, but an eloquent speech won’t do it. I assume he will not convert to conservatism and abandon his flawed plans, but he should cut his losses and get back to reality.

Occasionally all White Houses contort themselves into situations where they begin to say things they know are not true. The more you say such things, the more you have to keep saying them to try and make them true. But the Obama administration needs to face it: The president’s energy bill is not a jobs bill! His health-care plans will lead to government bureaucratic decisions about individuals’ heath care and will cost a fortune. The deficit is not under control. The administration should not deny the obvious or defend the indefensible. White House officials know they are losing the public debate on these issues and must scale back to what is possible and credible given America’s economic circumstances — or use brute force in Congress to pass unpopular, harmful and vast new programs.

Even if he did use his congressional majorities to win these battles, the president would lose the war by slowing economic growth, only resulting in more political pain for himself and his party. Obama doesn’t have any political problems that a couple of years of 4 percent GDP growth won’t solve. But he has to want it, and he needs honest policies to achieve it. Now, though, he is on a course that terrifies his political handlers and his party’s candidates.

MICHAEL S. BERMAN

President of the Duberstein Group; former counsel and deputy chief of staff to Vice President Walter Mondale.

First, the president should not over-read or over-rely on polls. To get some perspective, check out the Aug. 26 piece by Jeremy Rosner of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research titled “A Pollster’s Advice: Don’t Trust the Polls on Health Reform’s Demise.”

Second, Obama should show that he understands that people are being asked to accept changes in the health-care system while they are in the throes of actual or potential crisis in their personal financial “systems.” And that he has heard the concerns raised by affected Americans nationwide. While the media attention to various town halls was in the best tradition of “if it bleeds it leads,” most of the people who came out did so out of a real need and interest to learn more about health-care reform proposals.

Third, invite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid to a meeting, just the three of them, and work through with them a plan for going forward. Work “with” the congressional leadership to come up with a single bill that represents the doable, sans the wish list of every idea for changing health care that has been suggested in the past several decades. And get to that bill before the process kind of stumbles on to it.

Finally, choose a dramatic forum, perhaps a joint session of Congress, to lay out a bill that includes core changes but reflects having heard what is bothering the people he was elected to lead.

SCOTT KEETER

Director of survey research at Pew Research Center.

President Obama had a better honeymoon with the public than either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush did. But it’s over now. His ratings are approaching his electoral margin.

This summer slump is a product of his own actions and political forces outside his control. Obama campaigned for strong government action on the economy and health care, and most of his voters agreed with this direction. But Obama’s efforts to expand the role of government have alienated many of those who did not vote for him but nonetheless gave him high marks when first he took office.

The health-care debate has taken a toll on the president’s popularity as well as that of his party. Americans remain ambivalent, desiring most of the major elements in the reform proposals but simultaneously worrying about too much government control of health care. Obama can influence whether and how reform passes.