Panicked Democrats Tell Obama: Your Economic Message is Failing

Panicked over what many see as a flawed economic message that is driving away middle class and independent voters, a growing chorus of once-confident Democrats now fear President Barack Obama could lose the November election.

The hand-wringing reflects real worries among Democrats about Obama's ability to beat Republican rival Mitt Romney, who has so far proven to be a stronger candidate than many expected. But it's also a political strategy aimed at rallying major donors who have either been turned off or are simply complacent.

The background:

• The fears came into sharp focus on Tuesday when two major Democratic pollsters for Democracy Corps wrote a bleak analysis that suggested Obama's message didn't appeal to the middle class because it wasn't "forward-looking" enough.
• Former Clinton adviser James Carville said on Wednesday that he's very worried that Obama's message is being interpreted by many voters as the economy is doing just fine. It isn't, and the message is convincing many the president isn't feeling their pain.
• A poll released overnight Tuesday by Reuters/Ipsos found that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has closed to within a single point of Obama, among registered voters — 45 percent to 44 percent. Obama led by seven points a month ago.
• Last weekend's news cycle was almost entirely consumed by President Obama's comments on Friday that the private sector of the economy was "doing fine." Those remarks sent the Obama team to battle stations until late Monday.
• Obama's approval rating has slipped to 47 percent, its lowest level since January, an Ipsos poll found. The proportion of voters saying that the U.S. was on the wrong track rose six points to 63 percent.
  

Interviews with a dozen Democratic strategists across the country show an increased sense of urgency among Obama backers, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.