Walmart Moms: Not giving up on Obama yet (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Their views on the economy are relentlessly bleak, but America's so-called Walmart Moms -- the much-coveted working-class female voters whose support can swing an election -- do not blame President Barack Obama and have not given up on him.

In voter focus groups conducted on Wednesday night in the political battleground states of Florida, New Hampshire and Iowa, the young mothers used words like disappointing, mediocre, wishy-washy and indifferent to describe Obama.

But they also acknowledged Obama alone could not resolve persistent U.S. economic difficulties in the three years he has been in the job. Many gave the president credit for trying and said they would consider voting for him again in 2012.

"I think President Obama inherited this mess. I think he's doing the best he can," said Debbie in New Hampshire, an Obama voter in 2008. Laura in Florida, another Obama backer, said: "You can't expect a miracle worker."

The three 10-person focus groups consisted of women with children at home who had shopped at the retail giant Walmart in the last month. The 90-minute sessions were organized by pollsters and watched by video by journalists in Washington who were allowed to identify the women only by first name.

Many of the participants, split roughly between those who backed Obama in 2008 and those who voted for Republican John McCain, criticized Obama for a lack of results. Some said he was not a forceful leader.

"I don't feel like he is being strong enough," said Cheryl in Florida. "He does have good ideas but I don't think he pushes them through. That concerns me."

The Walmart Moms -- a catch phrase used by pollsters to identify key political swing groups, in the tradition of U.S. "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads" -- account for about 15 percent of the electorate.

As a whole they are about two-thirds white, mostly under the age of 44 and fairly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. About half make less than $50,000 a year, said pollsters Neil Newhouse, a Republican, and Margie Omero, a Democrat, who conducted the focus groups.

The group leaned slightly to Obama when he won in 2008 but shifted to Republicans in the 2010 congressional elections, making them a potentially crucial indicator of the prevailing political winds in the 2012 battle for the White House.

'NOT GIVING UP ON OBAMA'

In that respect, the message from the focus groups provided some good news for Obama. His overall approval ratings have sunk into the low 40s as the economy continues to falter.

"These voters don't seem like they have given up on Obama," Newhouse, the Republican pollster, said. "They are losing patience with Washington, but it seemed like Obama doesn't come out that bad."

A few members of each group said they definitely would not vote for Obama in 2012, and a few said they would. But most were not close to deciding who they would support.

"I'm disappointed at the lack of action," said Lisa in Iowa. She backed Obama in 2008 but said she would not do so again.

Few were paying much attention to the Republican race to pick a nominee to challenge Obama in 2012, and they had little good to say about the U.S. Congress. Many said members of Congress were more interested in politics than progress.

"It takes forever to get things passed," said Kimberly in Florida. "We're waiting and we're waiting and we're waiting."

Social issues like abortion and immigration that can play a big role in Republican primary campaigns were totally ignored by the focus group moms, who listed pocketbook economic issues, education and healthcare as their big concerns.

Many said they or someone in their family had been laid off from a job and nearly all said they had been forced to adjust their lifestyle to deal with the worsening economy.

Some moved in with parents after a divorce. Others were working a second job, delaying vacations, paying off credit cards or clipping coupons when shopping. They used words like scared, confused, worried and frustrated to describe the economy.

"It's a daily struggle," said Debbie in New Hampshire. Added Denise: "I feel like there is a new disaster every day."

Few blamed Obama for the economic troubles, but banks and Wall Street did get some of the blame. Some blamed themselves for overextending their credit.

"These voters seem like they have lost control," Newhouse said. "There is a sense of total uncertainty. There is a sense they are living on the edge, they are living on the precipice."

(Editing by Philip Barbara)

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President Obama not giving up on big debt deal (AP)

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama hasn't given up on getting congressional leaders to accept a $4 trillion debt reduction deal that Republicans have rejected for its tax increases and Democrats dislike for its cuts to programs for seniors and the poor, administration officials said hours before talks resumed Sunday.

"He's not someone to walk away from a tough fight," presidential chief of staff William Daley said. "Everyone agrees that a number around $4 trillion is the number that will ... make a serious dent in our deficit."

But House and Senate Republican leaders now say the largest of three proposals under consideration would not pass the GOP-led House because of its tax increases, an abrupt shift in negotiation over the terms of raising the nation's debt ceiling before an Aug. 2 deadline.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announced late Saturday that he was rejecting that proposal. Heading into the talks at 6 p.m. EDT, the top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, suggested the deal was dead.

"I think it is," McConnell said. Raising taxes amid 9.2 percent unemployment, he added, "is a terrible idea. It's a job killer."

The back-and-forth on the Sunday morning talk shows came hours before Obama and eight lawmakers of both parties were to convene at the White House over a plan to raise the nation's borrowing capacity from $14.3 trillion before next month's deadline, when administration officials say the nation would default on its debts.

Republicans have demanded that any plan to raise the borrowing limit be coupled with massive spending cuts to lighten the burden of government on the struggling economy. Higher taxes, Republicans have said from the start, are deal-killers if not offset elsewhere.

But Obama has a long way to go to satisfy lawmakers in his own party, too. Many Democrats are unnerved by the president's $4 trillion proposal because of its changes to Medicare and Medicaid.

Political pain is part of the deal, too, and should be worth bearing, Daley said, adding that Obama was calling on lawmakers to "step up and be leaders."

He cast Obama as uninterested, for now, in two more modest proposals to raise the debt limit for a shorter time, in exchange for smaller spending cuts. But Daley and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner used rhetoric that appeared to acknowledge the prospects for the $4 trillion deal could be in doubt.

"We're going to try to get the biggest deal possible," Geithner said.

He cautioned that a package about half the size of the one Obama prefers would be equally tough to negotiate because it, too, could require hundreds of billions in new tax revenue.

Expectations for Sunday's meeting took an abrupt turn after Boehner informed Obama that a package of about $2 trillion identified but not agreed to by bipartisan negotiators was more realistic.

In a statement, Boehner said: "Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes."

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Vice President Joe Biden had already identified, but not signed off on, about $2 trillion in deficit reductions, most accomplished through spending cuts.

"I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of any debt limit increase," Boehner said.

After holding a secret meeting with Boehner last weekend, Obama and aides said they believed an even bigger figure was attainable if both parties made politically painful, but potentially historic, choices.

A Republican official familiar with the discussions said taxes and the major health and retirement entitlement programs continued to be sticking points.

Obama wanted Republicans to accept closing some corporate tax loopholes and subsidies to corporations, ending a tax friendly inventory accounting system for businesses, as well as reducing the value of tax deductions for wealthy taxpayers.

A senior administration official said the discussion on taxes broke down over the administration's desire to have the wealthy pick up a bigger share of the tax revenue load than Republicans were willing to accept.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said the $2 trillion to $2.4 trillion in deficit reduction identified by the Biden-led negotiations remains under negotiation and will also require some new tax revenue of up to $400 billion.

Daley was on ABC's "This Week," McConnell appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and Geithner was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press" and CBS' "Face the Nation."

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Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.

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