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Barack Obama faces essentially the same situation that Ronald Reagan did at the beginning of his second year as president: The economy has gone from bad to worse and the economic recovery program is not yet working. Obama can't do what Reagan did, however.

Reagan's response was to rally his supporters to "stay the course." Republicans went on to suffer losses in the 1982 midterm elections, but the setback wasn't nearly as devastating as expected. A lot of voters, it turned out, were willing to stay the course, even though Reaganomics had never worked. They believed in President Reagan's course: less government, lower taxes.

Obama was elected in large part because he was seen as someone who could bring the country together. So far, he has failed.

President Obama would have a tough time leading a campaign to stay the course. What's the course? To most voters, it looks like more government and higher spending. That's not a banner you can get many Americans to rally around.

Obama needs to revive himself and his party the way President Clinton did in the 1990s -- as problem solvers. If problems are getting solved, voters don't ask many questions about ideology. Most Americans are pragmatic. Pragmatists believe that whatever works is right. Ideologues believe that if something is wrong, it can't possibly work -- even if it does. That's why conservatives have the upper hand at the moment. The Democratic program doesn't seem to be working, so it can't be right.

Problem-solving has become Obama's new mantra. In his State of the Union address, the president issued a charge to congressional Democrats: "I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades. And the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills."

There are three cardinal principles of problem-solving in American politics.

The first is a deeply held popular belief: Politics is the enemy of problem-solving. Why can't we reduce the deficit? Politics. Why can't we reform the health care system? Politics.

CNN polls reveal that a majority now opposes the president's economic stimulus plan. Why? Because 63 percent think that most of the stimulus projects were funded "for purely political reasons." Nearly 60 percent say they oppose the health care legislation that is stalled in Congress. An uninsured 18-year-old waitress in New Hampshire explained her opposition this way to The New York Times: "If you have to bribe people to vote for it, it can't be good."

The second principle is that solutions require consensus. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both promised to unify the country but failed to do so. Obama was elected in large part because he was seen as someone who actually could bring the country together. So far, he, too, has failed. A month after Obama got elected, 77 percent of Americans thought that he could "unite the country and not divide it." In the latest CNN poll, 49 percent still believe that he can unite the country but 50 percent disagree. Americans are divided over unity, too.

Obama is determined to try. He not only showed up at the House Republicans' retreat, he also insisted that the session be televised. "Bipartisanship, not for its own sake, but to solve problems. That's what our constituents, the American people, need from us right now," he told the GOP lawmakers.

Principle No. 3: Big policy changes require a crisis. That's because the American system is designed for weak government. There are too many ways to block things from happening. Some are in the Constitution (separation of powers). Some are not (the filibuster). The system works when the public's sense of urgency is powerful enough to overcome the roadblocks.

Right now, the crisis is unemployment -- not the uninsured or global warming or illegal immigration. So Obama shifted priorities in his State of the Union speech, declaring, "Jobs must be our No. 1 focus in 2010."

The president also said, "By now it should be fairly obvious that I didn't take on health care because it was good politics." Obama is using his setbacks to make the point that he is driven by problem-solving, not politics or ideology. "I am not an ideologue," Obama told the House Republicans. When the assertion drew a skeptical response from his audience, the president insisted, "I'm not."