Mr. President, congratulations on passing your $787 billion stimulus bill. We hope it helps to lessen the pain of the declining economy. But the stock market has been tanking and record numbers of people are joining the ranks of the unemployed. Going to Canada for your first Presidential trip is the opposite of W's first trip to Mexico. And your talk about gloomy economic prospects stands in sharp contrast with W's out-of-touch proclamations of solid economic fundamentals. But doing the opposite of W is not going to cut it.
Are you wondering why there's bailout backlash? I think it may be because we need you to put your communications skills to work by giving us a recovery roadmap. In concept, this is a simple idea -- just tell us:
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How we got into this mess;
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What you see as the short-, medium-, and long-term goals of economic recovery;
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How you propose to achieve these goals; and
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Why you think your proposals will work.
After presenting this recovery roadmap -- I drafted one back in September but it needs updating -- bring us back to it every few weeks and show us what's working and what's not. We need to see how you're adapting to changing circumstances, but we also need to know that you see the big picture and are willing to help us see how the specific initiatives you're announcing fit within it. This is going to be a long journey, and it's uncharted territory that we elected you to map.
We elected you not to be the opposite of the 43rd President but to lead us through the economic challenges before us. Ironically, you used the same kind of sales pitch for your stimulus bill as he did. When you said catastrophe will befall us unless Congress passes your legislation, it echoed what W. said before he pushed through the Iraq war and what Hank Paulson used to scare Congress into the TARP.
It may be smart politics to lower expectations so people can't blame you if results are disappointing. But the psychological impact of hearing the President talk about economic difficulties can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think America needs to hear something more thoughtful than a simple "fundamentals are strong" or "the economic situation is grim."
Your communications skills helped get you elected. Please use them to give us a recovery road map and keep referring to it as we make progress during the journey. For example, introduce us to people who are now working thanks to the stimulus plan or a family that can stay in their house thanks to your mortgage plan. That will help Americans to see that your solutions are working and will give us the confidence we need to invest in our futures.
Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College. His eighth book is You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing.
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