Obama Honeymoon Over?

From Alexander Bolton at The Hill:
President Obama’s honeymoon is beginning to fade.
Members of Congress and old political hands say he needs to show substantial progress reviving the economy soon.
Some Democrats have started to worry that voters don’t and won’t understand the link between economic revival and Obama’s huge agenda, which includes saving the banking industry, ending home foreclosures, reforming healthcare and developing a national energy policy, among much else.
While lawmakers debate controversial proposals contained in the new president’s debut budget — cutting farm subsidies, raising taxes on charitable contributions, etc. — there is a growing sense that time is running out faster than expected.
Democrats from states racked by recession say Obama needs to produce an uptick by August or face unpleasant consequences. Others say that there is more time, but that voters need to see improvement by the middle of next year.
The most optimistic say Obama and Democrats in Congress will face a political backlash unless the economy improves by Election Day 2010.
“We’ve got to see an uptick by August or the Democratic majority is in jeopardy,” said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), whose state had an 11.6 percent unemployment rate in January.
Stupak doesn’t fault Obama for pursuing healthcare reform, because high medical costs are intertwined with the economic difficulties, he said.
But Obama must move quickly, he added, saying, “By summer there is no more honeymoon. Period.”
Other Democrats and some Republicans question whether Obama’s attention is too thinly spread — whether his economic message may be diminished by forays into healthcare, education and energy reform.
“I think any political honeymoon has a short life, and in this economic climate it’s dictated by the public’s perception of hope for the economy,” said former Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan, who represented Nevada for 12 years. . . .
Obama’s push along a wide policy front has begun to alienate admirers on the other side of the political spectrum.
“I fear that in trying to do everything at once, they will do nothing well,” wrote conservative columnist David Brooks, a self-described Obama fan, in a recent column in The New York Times. “I fear that we have a group of people who haven’t even learned to use their new phone system trying to redesign half the U.S. economy.”
Obama’s wide-ranging vision has soured commentators who had earlier praised his job performance. “Obama’s proposals for many hundreds of billions in additional spending on universal healthcare, universal postsecondary education, a massive overhaul of the energy economy, and other liberal programs seem grandiose and unaffordable,” wrote Stuart Taylor in the National Journal.
Don Fowler, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he supported Obama’s approach but acknowledged that the debate over healthcare reform could drag down his administration.
“Healthcare is an incredible political morass,” said Fowler, noting that Obama will have to take on powerful interests such as hospitals, insurance companies and the American Medical Association.