Dig a little more, and administration officials confess to hoping that a steadily improving economy could be a political cure-all. “The number-one priority has and will be economic progress,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Nov. 4.

But there’s something else Obama can do, something he’s generally regarded as doing well: Campaign. Get out there now, ahead of the 2014 mid-term campaign, to highlight the differences between Democrats and Republicans on key issues that are not Obamacare.

“He should accelerate the political calendar. Start 2014 now,” according to a senior Republican figure in Washington, who requested anonymity because “I’m not really in the business of giving advice to Democrats.”

Obama should “go out and talk about immigration. Talk about the economy. Talk about gay rights. Climate. Promise to close Gitmo [Guantanamo Bay],” the former government official said. “His problem isn’t Republicans. We’ll never be on his side. His problem is Democrats. He has to remind them why he’s their guy.”