Campaigner in Chief Stuns Washington, Announces Yet Another Campaign

Who had “pivot to jobs” falling on May 6? You won the pool.

President Obama will kick off a campaign-style tour to promote middle-class economic growth with a series of events this week in Austin, Texas, the White House announced Sunday.

“The President’s trip will be similar to previous ‘White House to Main Street’ events that directly engage the American people and effectively pushed Congress to act,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement. “Things are getting better, but our economic recovery is not as strong as it could be and far too many middle class families are still struggling. The question is, will Congress will join with the President to make sure the middle class is strong and secure.”

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The White House said that the president planned “a series of these [day trips]… every several weeks or so,” with the goal of “trying to assemble this common-sense caucus” to pass some of the president’s priorities.

But campaign-style rallies in recent months urging Congress to replace the sequester and approve billions in new spending on infrastructure improvements have done little to move the needle. Encouraging jobs numbers and record highs on the major stock indexes could further complicate Obama’s pitch to an already reluctant Republican House.

The president could do a number of things to spur job growth, including rolling back the EPA’s war on coal, authorizing the XL pipeline, or abolishing ObamaCare. He could attract bipartisan support for all of those.

Instead, he’s campaigning again.