President Obama, Please Call Jacqueline Salit - Now!

As the late Fred Newman would sometimes say while Talk Talk-ing with his close friend and colleague, independent strategist Jackie Salit, "if I were advising the President, which I'm not..." Well, I'm not advising the President, but if I were, what I would say to him right now is: I think you should pick up the phone and call Salit and and ask her how to get out of this mess. I bet you'd hear some things you haven't heard from your advisors and the pundits because Salit operates outside the perimeters of the partisan quagmire. 212-609-2800. Mr. President -- relief is only a phone call away! Call now! 

2012

• Third-party bids would help Obama (Public Policy Polling) Though he refused in 2008, there would probably be a lot of appetite for a third-party candidacy from 1988 Libertarian Party nominee Ron Paul. He would get a solid 15%, with Romney falling to 33% and Obama still at 45%. Paul earns the most independent support of any of these third-party options (20%), almost all GOP-leaners, as Obama beats Romney by 20 with independents overall. Paul also holds Romney to 63% of Republicans, taking 22% himself. Despite his supporters' claims about his popularity with Democrats, Paul wouldn't get anymore crossover support from Democrats than any of the others.
• Obama Leadership Image Takes a Hit, GOP Ratings Decline - Continued Dissatisfaction with Republican Field (Pew Research) Independent voters are divided over their preference in the 2012 general election. As many say they would like to see Obama reelected (38%) as say they prefer a Republican candidate to win (36%). In May, Obama enjoyed a seven-point edge among independents (42%-35%). In July, just 31% of independents backed Obama while 39% preferred to see a Republican win.
• Obama’s efforts to woo independents derailed by debt-ceiling agreement (By Ian Swanson, The Hill) The reason Obama has sought out independents is clear. Obama won the independent vote in 2008 by 8 percentage points, but independents swung to Republicans in the 2010 congressional elections. Since then, the president has made a series of decisions intended to win back independent voters.
• Rasmussen: Ron Paul in dead heat with President Obama in hypothetical 2012 race (by Christopher A. Guzman, CAIVN) "What if the Republicans nominate Ron Paul? If the 2012 Presidential Election were held today would you vote for Republican Ron Paul or Democrat Barack Obama?" As President, Barack Obama captured 39% of the vote among likely voters, with the Texas Congressman right on his tail with 38%.
• A Unified Theory of Obama (By Jesse Weed, American Thinker) In summary, the profile is of a  man who is: (1) convinced that he knows what America should become and that his vision for America is morally superior; (2) convinced that his vision is unpalatable to the majority of Americans and that hence, Americans must be tricked into heading for the proper destination without being given a clear statement of just what that destination is; (3) convinced that he must appear the high-minded statesman rather than the combative ideologue in order to nudge America along its righteous path.  Let us call this the X-Profile.
• Obama’s Team Is Blowing It (Michael Tomasky, The Daily Beast) The fundamental problem appears to be the excessive fixation on Obama’s (forgive me for even using this word) “brand”—this “adult in the room” nonsense. Whenever I see those words in print anymore, usually in a background quote from a White House aide or a Democratic source trying gamely to be on-message, I hear strong and unsettling echoes of the 2008-vintage messianism. Does anyone buy this anymore, outside of what appears to be an increasingly bubble-ized White House? Those beloved independents certainly aren’t thinking of the president that way these days, and one doubts that even most of his supporters are.