“He’s gone from No-Drama-Obama to High-Drama-Obama,” GOP strategist Ron Bonjean said. “They’ve gone after Republicans hard in the last few weeks, everything from the Supreme Court to attacks on Mitt Romney but it’s boomeranged. They’re throwing mud against the wall to see what sticks but it ends up splashing back at them.”

But Democratic strategists and those close to the Obama campaign say the strategy is an effective one. Obama needs to come out swinging, to appeal to a dissatisfied base along with the critical independent vote.

“The base has been frustrated to discover that congressional politics is a glacially slow process,” said one former Obama aide. “So he has to turn up the volume and take the fight to the streets a bit more.”…

“He’s Barack Obama. He’s very thoughtful, very calm and collected,” the former aide said. “He’ll never be a rabid, wide-eyed attack dog. But, I do think that he’ll be more likely to throw a punch this time around, if he sees an opening.”