WASHINGTON — Faced with growing skepticism over aspects of his economic agenda, President Obama has launched an aggressive campaign-style offensive to bolster congressional supporters and marginalize Republican opponents.
Millions of campaign supporters are receiving e-mails urging them to call members of Congress. Groups allied with the White House are running ads scorning the president's foes. States that were closely contested in the 2008 election are again getting visits from Obama.
On Thursday, Obama will even turn up in Jay Leno's studio to appear on "The Tonight Show." Candidates have often used late-night talk shows to highlight their lighter side, but no sitting president has ever appeared on one, NBC said.
The return to campaign-style tactics is intended to pressure lawmakers to back Obama's plans in Congress, particularly his $3.6-trillion budget. That would be a tough sell in any environment, with lawmakers and industry lobbyists skeptical of sweeping and costly plans to revamp healthcare, convert to alternative fuel and stabilize the financial sector.
Complicating the president's job were revelations over the weekend that insurance giant American International Group Inc. was paying $165 million in executive bonuses even though it had accepted a huge federal bailout.
News of the bonuses has threatened to stir a populist backlash against the rescue of AIG and other financial services, which in turn could raise voter concerns that the administration is squandering taxpayer money.
"There is a certain amount of bailout fatigue that's settled on [Capitol] Hill, and something like this isn't going to help," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
"This is another outrageous example of executives -- including those whose decisions were responsible for the problems that caused AIG's collapse -- enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
"It's going to increase the level of populist anger" about government spending, said Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, the senior Republican on the House Budget Committee. Ryan said he started hearing from angry constituents about AIG last weekend at a Kiwanis Club pancake breakfast.
