Morning Fix: President Obama’s tough sales job on the economy

If you have difficulty viewing this newsletter, click here to view as a Web page. Click here to view in plain text. Friday, May 11, 2012 President Obama's tough sales job on the economy Public opinion on President Obama's top economic accomplishments during his first term in office is strongly divided in new polling done by the Washington Post and ABC News — a split that reflects the difficulty he will have running this fall solely on the strength of what he has done in office to improve the country's financial standing. Forty-seven percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package, while 49 percent view it unfavorably. Forty-eight percent of registered voters regard increased regulation of the financial sector by the Obama Administration favorably, while 45 percent see it unfavorably. The bailout of the auto industry is the most popular of the trio of economic accomplishments, with 49 percent of registered voters viewing it favorably as opposed to 44 percent who rate it unfavorably. That none of Obama's major economic proposals garner majority support has to be worrisome for the president and his political team, who recognize that the incumbent's stewardship of the economy will be the critical issue for many undecided voters in this election. While Obama has already begun the effort to raise questions in voters' minds about former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's approach to the struggling economy — the thrust of the Obama argument is that his opponent wants to go backward, not forward — that negative message alone may not be enough to convince undecided voters to give the incumbent another four years. For Obama to win a second term, he will almost certainly have to pair the "Romney is wrong" message with an "I was right" message — proving that some of the policies he put in place have begun to make things better. Obama fundraises off gay marriage position: The Obama campaign appeared to try and raise money off the president's embrace of gay marriage on Thursday. The Obama campaign sent supporters a text message with the following missive: "If you're proud of our president, this is a great time to make a donation to the campaign." It then provided a link to help them donate money. It's not clear that the "proud" reference was made in connection with the gay marriage switch, but logic would suggest that's the case. Romney's campaign said Thursday that it would be inappropriate to raise money off the issue. "You know, I don't think the matter of marriage is really a fundraising matter either for the president — it's certainly not for me. I don't know what our figures look like," Romney told Fox News. "I hope the issue as tender and sensitive that the marriage issue is not a source of fundraising for either of us." Fixbits: Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) is the favorite of congressional insiders to be Romney's running mate — by a long shot. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks to Iowa business leaders. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) vetoes a health care exchange law. Christie also assures that he won't be endorsing same-sex marriage any time soon. Sarah Palin endorses Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz (R). The House Franking Commission has cleared Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) of any wrongdoing after the Senate candidate's district mail wound up going statewide, but former senator George LeMieux's (R) campaign is not impressed. NARAL president Nancy Keenan is stepping down., saying it's time for younger anti-abortion activists to take over. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) joins Obama in supporting gay marriage. Must-reads: "Mitt Romney's prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents" — Jason Horowitz, Washington Post "Gay marriage: The 'unthinkable' became reality, for some" — David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post "For Obama, gay marriage stance borne of a long evolution" — Peter Wallsten and Scott Wilson, Washington Post "Jindal May Be the Answer to Romney's VP Question" — Scott Conroy, Real Clear Politics "John Edwards sought to seal political future while campaign fizzled, ex-aide testifies" — Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post Get The Washington Post, your way. Want to stay on top of the latest news, features, commentary and more? Here's how: Mobile: Alerts: Social Media: Applications Web site E-mail SMS RSS Feeds Facebook Twitter SEND TO A FRIEND UNSUBSCRIBE E-NEWSLETTER CENTER GET HELP Washington Post Digital E-mail Customer Care 1150 15th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20071 ©2012 The Washington Post Privacy Policy