Can 'fired up' Obama turn the tide against the GOP?

The new aggressive Obama may be just what the Democrats need.

(Image credit: Getty)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: President Obama has shifted into campaign mode ahead of midterm elections that polls suggest will be disastrous for his party, delivering his second "combative" speech in a week. In his stump speech, Obama now criticizes House GOP leader John Boehner by name, and attacks the Republicans for negative politics (Watch an excerpt below). Democrats are divided over the policies Obama is proposing — $180 billion in business tax cuts and infrastructure spending — but many are glad his old, "fired up" persona is making a comeback.

The reaction: "This is the Obama Democrats have been waiting for," says John Dickerson in Slate. He may be "taking a pounding in the polls," but his barnstorming rhetoric makes him seem like he has "a secret to the comeback." I get that Democrats need a strong turnout to stave off disaster, says Clive Crook in The Atlantic, but "doesn't the Democratic base already despise Republicans?" Obama ought to be more concerned about his base's disillusionment with the White House. Watch the video here: