Obama is working up to running against Congress for the next election. He knows he can't beat the Rupublican nominee but Congress has lower ratings then him (so far) so he is going to run against Congress. After next Thursday watch him say, "see, they won't pass my plan so it's not my fault".
Great post and I get a good chuckle out of the focus group comment. So typical of the "decisions by committee" mindset of the past twenty years with weak and ineffectual leaders. Sort of like when a company makes a public announcement that they've hired a PR firm to restore their image. How f'ing stupid can one be to formally announce that they've hired a group of bullshit artists to try and re-shape public perception. Nauseating stuff.