Beginning this week, two consequential debates will begin to unfold. The first will pit the president against the Republican Party as the two sides lay out competing plans and visions for rescuing an economy still in distress. In some ways, that debate will be an extension of the one that took place over the debt ceiling this summer, but with the focus likely to be much more on a president whose policies so far have not turned around the economy.
The second will take place within the family of Republicans, highlighted by a series of candidate forums that not only will define more clearly where a GOP president might take the country but also should highlight potentially significant differences in style and philosophy between the two leading contenders for the nomination, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.
All this will play out against a backdrop of deep public dissatisfaction that has intensified in the aftermath of the polarized fight over raising the debt ceiling, which is now seen by some analysts as a pivotal moment in the country’s political history.
That fiscal battle, which took the country to the brink of default and brought a downgrading of the nation’s credit rating by Standard & Poor’s, produced further erosion in public confidence in government and even greater anxiety over families’ economic security.
September will be no ordinary month. Events will cascade from beginning to end. This week will see the first GOP debate to include Perry, on Wednesday beginning at 8 p.m. EDT at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.
The next night, at 7 p.m., Obama will outline a jobs program before a joint session of Congress — a date settled on after an embarrassing exchange between the White House and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) that saw the speaker stare down the president, who first wanted to speak to Congress the same night as the GOP debate.
Republicans will hold two more debates later in the month, both in Florida. The first is scheduled for Sept. 12 in Tampa, the second for Sept. 22 in Orlando.
Before all that takes place, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) will hold a candidate forum on Labor Day that will feature the major Republican presidential hopefuls. Romney will outline his jobs program at a speech Tuesday in Nevada. And the congressional supercommittee tasked with finding more than a trillion dollars in additional spending cuts will hold its first meeting on Capitol Hill.
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