A failure to communicate

Several Democrat strategists candidly admit that the president has not been very effective at communicating in a manner that reaches voters. "They do not believe he shares their values and their concerns," conceded one. Simple things, such as Obama not receiving economic briefings for more than a month, make voters scratch their heads -- especially when the jobs data are anything but optimistic. Obama will be a formidable force against whatever Republican emerges from the GOP primaries. Beating an incumbent is never easy. Yet no modern president has won re-election when unemployment was at 8 percent or higher. Most economists predict joblessness will still be above that number on Election Day 2012.