Obama’s position is that he doesn’t have anything to do with the policies of the country; he’s the one trying to fix everything that’s wrong.
Good Gawd, one of Frank Luntz’s idiot focus groups.
Obama doesn’t want to be perceived as responsible for anything that happens in the country. Even as he succeeds in implementing huge portions of his agenda, he portrays himself as fighting the evil entrenched forces. That’s why he will never agree to any compromise on any issue. He knows he’s got a winning formula: keep pinning the blame for his policies on the Republicans, keep portraying himself as the hero fighting the evil conservatives, don’t allow a budget to pass or any other action that Americans might reasonable associate with him. And as Rush points out, it works because the media are absolutely complicit. (I know I’m just repeating what Rush is saying—I’m taking notes for future reference.)