Lanhee J Chen, Columnist

Obama's Blow to Endangered Democrats

When the president said his policies were on November's ballot, Republicans in tight Senate races cheered.

October 3, 2014 at 2:53 PM UTC

Lanhee Chen is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution who also teaches public policy at Stanford University. He was the policy director of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. Chen was a senior official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the George W. Bush administration. He practiced business litigation with the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and served as the Winnie Neubauer visiting fellow in health policy studies at the Heritage Foundation. Chen earned his doctorate and master's degree in political science from Harvard University, his law degree from Harvard Law School and his bachelor's degree in government from Harvard College.

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Another day, another pivot to jobs for President Barack Obama. Yesterday's speech at Northwestern University marked the 16th time since he took office that he has announced a refocus on jobs and the economy. It was also his best effort at a closing argument for Democrats in November's elections.

The structure of the president's speech was familiar. First, blame his predecessor for leaving the economy a shambles. Second, tout a few "accomplishments," such as enacting Obamacare and fighting for financial regulation that has made it harder for people to get mortgages. Finally, call for the same economic prescriptions he has been promoting since 2011.