What the GOP has to do to defeat Obama

Kimberley Strassel:

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To sum up: While this constituency is deeply disappointed in the president, it is deeply skeptical that Republicans offer anything better. Take the case of the debt, which these voters list as their second largest concern (after the economy). What quickly became clear in the focus groups is that voters see the size of the debt as a proxy for Washington incompetence. 

As a result, the constant GOP refrain that Mr. Obama has overspent—the "fiscal" argument—washes over these voters; they are convinced anyone in Washington would do the same. What resonates instead is the "moral" argument about the size of government. Complain to voters that Mr. Obama has "overspent," and they tune out. Explain to voters that Mr. Obama—in keeping with his vision of all-powerful federal government—wasted millions on Solyndra with a loan that impeded private markets and created no jobs, and they are enraged. 

"To lock down voters in the middle, Republicans are going to have to convince them that Obama isn't just a flawed and ineffective leader, but that he has an agenda and motivations that they don't share," says Steven Law, president and CEO of Crossroads, which in mid-December began running a Solyndra ad called "Typical" that takes aim at Mr. Obama's "Washington deals." It also means, says Mr. Law, that Republicans must "remind voters that big-government excesses like Solyndra, stimulus and ObamaCare are prologue for where the Democrats still want to take us." 

Consider that ObamaCare was a concern of the focus group, though it had notably receded. This is in part because, while the GOP often complains about the law and its individual mandate, it has largely stopped explaining to voters what else is in it, or how other upcoming provisions will hurt consumers, or exactly how they grow government. 

Presidential aspirants and congressional Republicans, take note: To make a moral argument against the president, you also have to make one for yourselves. To the extent the GOP is lobbing the usual Obama complaints or going to the mat over who cares more about a piddling payroll tax holiday, it is wasting time.
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I would attack Obama's motivation to raise taxes so he can make more investments like Solyndra and other sink hole investments in green energy while he is strangling domestic production of oil and gas, so he can drive up the price.