By Douglas Holtz-Eakin
The young drop coverage to avoid higher premiums
President Obama's aides dislike the word "pivot" for its implication that he focuses on one priority at a time — but Mr. Obama's trip to Austin, Texas, on Thursday is indisputably an effort to return attention to the economy after a spring overshadowed by gun control and other issues.
In the homestretch of his final campaign, President Obama has ditched the language of lower expectations once prominent in his stump speech, focusing instead on a repackaged jobs plan and adding a heavy dose of ridicule for Republican rival Mitt Romney.
Perhaps it's a risk for any incumbent Democratic president running for re-election, but President Obama now finds himself being compared by Republicans to former President Jimmy Carter.
Poised for lame-duck victories spanning foreign, economic and social policy, President Obama is seeing a renewed sense of accomplishment after his first two years in office, which were filled with a brutal health care fight and crises ranging from financial meltdowns to environmental disasters.
Facing Republicans in a closed-door meeting 19 months ago, newly minted President Obama tried to end a philosophical debate over the size and scope of the stimulus with this simple admonition: "I won."
"A president can and must do more than one thing at a time," said Simon Rosenberg, president of NDN, a left-leaning think tank in Washington. "Given the focus on other pressing matters in recent months, it is appropriate for the president to return now to the most important issue in American politics now — creating growth, opportunity and jobs for everyday Americans."
