Nein, nyet, nah.

Andrew Sullivan:

In my view, the key to reassuring Independents, the critical swing vote, is the deficit and the long term debt. If Obama can persuade them that the healthcare reform actually addresses that problem and cuts entitlements (as it does), he can combine it with his recently announced plan for a bipartisan commission to cut entitlements and raise taxes. Such a plan can alone reassure the markets that the US isn't headed toward the fiscal status of a banana republic.

Nein, nyet, nah.  There may (or may not) be a way to restore the confidence of the Middle Class in Obama, but this certainly isn't it.  Not that I'm against focusing on the deficit and entitlements.  But I can't imagine that winning over my brother who helps make locomotives at General Electric (there's probably no way Obama could win him over).  It sounds like a prescription for some 'green eyeshade' Republican.

It looks more and more like the Democrats are going to lose BIG TIME this fall, and as John Judis put in an earlier post, I don't think there is much they can do about it.  Since the Republicans are the default opposition party, whether or not they deserve it (they don't), they will be the big winners.

As a number of us have been saying all year, this is (as least in part) the result of appearing to save Wall Street and neglecting Main Street.