Close-up: Salesman for Obama economic policy wanted

WASHINGTON —

The first time Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner stepped forward to present a major policy initiative by the Obama administration — outlining the plan to rescue the financial system — the reaction to his performance was so severe that the stock market plunged 382 points. The secretary offered only vague generalities, not the guts of the plan, critics charged.

On Monday, when the long-awaited details were ready for unveiling, Geithner briefed the news media in a quiet "pen and pad" session — no television or other broadcasting allowed. This time, the market soared nearly 500 points.

The market gain was good news for the Obama administration, but Geithner's shift in tactics reflected a worrisome development: The economy is the No. 1 issue across the country, but when it comes to selling the administration's plans, President Obama is carrying the load virtually by himself.

In building his economic team, the president gave priority to technical skill and intellectual achievement. One result has been that, so far, none of his senior advisers has shown an aptitude for stepping into the spotlight as an effective spokesperson.

Because the programs are complex, costly and politically unpalatable, the shortage of officials who can dominate the stage is becoming a serious handicap.

"They're not good. They can't talk to normal people," said Ross Eisenbrey of the liberal Economic Policy Institute. "They're not reassuring the public. And the psychology of consumer confidence is very important."

Chief White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers, a Harvard economist and former treasury secretary, is widely admired for his grasp of global economic dynamics. Former University of California, Berkeley economist Christina Romer is a leading expert on the Great Depression.

And Geithner headed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York after holding high-level government jobs involving the economy and finance.

Yet all have stumbled in recent public appearances.

"The ability to communicate with average people was not what these people were chosen for," said Alice Rivlin, former budget director under President Clinton. "They were chosen for their understanding of the problem and their ability to think creatively about it and to work out solutions to what is admittedly a very complex issue."

Selling the president's economic plans "clearly has not been their forte," she said.

In the face of a communications vacuum, the Obama administration has come to rely on the president himself as its principal economic spokesman. Obama is turning up everywhere. Last week, he talked about the AIG bonus scandal on "The Tonight Show" with comedian Jay Leno, in between quips about the search for a family dog.

On Sunday the president was on TV again discussing the financial system with Steve Kroft on "60 Minutes." And Obama is to give a prime-time news conference today in which the economy is certain to be a central focus.

This week, Geithner appears to be limiting his media time to more business-oriented forums, such as his interview Monday with CNBC's Erin Burnett. He testifies today before a House committee on the AIG bailout, but that appearance will quickly be overshadowed when Obama holds his news conference later in the day.

Finding the right voice

Experts on the economy credit Obama for being an effective advocate for his policies. He frequently has managed to explain the complex roots of the financial meltdown in everyday terms.

Describing the AIG collapse on "The Tonight Show," for example, he said: "Then they decided — some smart person decided — let's put a hedge fund on top of the insurance company. ... "

But economists add that no president can do it alone. The treasury secretary and top economic advisers must imbue Americans with enough confidence to sustain consumer demand, an economic engine.

Outside the Oval Office, the administration is still hunting for a reassuring voice.

Summers sounded off-key a week ago when he appeared on a Sunday-morning talk show on March 15 and talked about the AIG bonuses. He said that AIG's actions were "outrageous," but he also seemed to suggest he did not believe the bonuses could or should be rescinded.

"There are contracts," he said. "The nation cannot just abrogate contracts."

Speaking the following day, Obama struck a different note. In a public appearance, the president said he had ordered Geithner to exploit "every single legal avenue to block these bonuses."

Romer also appeared on a Sunday talk show on March 15 and got a question about whether the economy is fundamentally sound. That may seem like a softball question, but the phrase was politically charged.

Last September, during the presidential campaign, Republican nominee John McCain said at a rally that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong." Democrats depicted him as utterly out of touch for making such a claim amid a worsening economic crisis.

Yet Romer's answer was, "Well, of course the fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology."

Farther down the roster

Now the Obama team is reaching deeper into its bench to find a credible spokesman on the economy. On Sunday, the administration turned to vice-presidential economics adviser Jared Bernstein, who made his first appearance on a Sunday show since the inauguration.

Bernstein's appearance may also have been aimed at assuaging Obama's liberal base. As a Wall Street insider, Geithner has drawn criticism from progressives. Bernstein is on leave from the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute. In his TV appearance, Bernstein stressed how Obama's agenda could help ordinary Americans.

"Let us not lose sight of the people who ... haven't come into this conversation yet — middle-class folks who are facing an 8 percent unemployment rate, African-Americans facing a 13 percent unemployment rate, over 20 million people underemployed right now," Bernstein said.

Earlier this month, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the bailout of the financial sector on "60 Minutes" — the first Fed chief to take part in a televised interview since 1987.