US President George W. Bush will use an economic forum today to project concern about the plight of ordinary citizens rather than simply stressing the economy's underlying strength, an emphasis that illustrates the political dangers of the tepid US recovery.
About 250 people - including Vice President Dick Cheney and other top officials, a trash hauler, a United Parcel Service driver and the head of a dry-cleaning company - will gather at the meeting at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
With no major new policy expected to emerge, critics suggest the meeting amounts to a public relations exercise with carefully screened participants. The White House argues that Bush will hear from ordinary citizens, including some prominent Democrats, about their ideas to revive growth.
With the US economy posting weak 1.1 per cent growth in the April-June period, budget deficits soaring and mid-term elections looming in November, Bush is expected to say, as he often does, that the economic fundamentals are strong.
But, in a series of small panel discussions and a wrap-up session, Bush also aims to convey his concern for the plight of Americans amid new evidence that the economy was already in recession when he took office last year.
"The president wants to communicate directly with real Americans that he's worried about their economic security and that he's got an agenda to address it," said an administration official who asked not to be named.
Bush may also be seeking to avoid a mistake made by his father in 1992, when a perception took hold among voters that the elder Bush was out of touch on the ailing economy. That helped Democrat Bill Clinton turn him out of the White House.
A CBS News Poll released last week showed Bush's approval rating on the economy was 45 per cent, well below the 72 per cent rating for his campaign against terrorism and his 66 per cent overall approval rating. The August 6-7 survey of 832 adults found 50 per cent believed Bush should be paying more attention to the economy, up from 38 per cent in January.
Democrats have blasted the Waco forum for excluding their leaders of Congress but including big Republican donors. Democratic Party Chairman Terry McAuliffe called it a "staged forum... to address Republican political vulnerabilities."
Jim Wilkinson, a deputy White House communications director helping to organise the meeting, said the forum's eight panel discussions will feature unscripted policy discussions on everything from creating jobs to education and trade.
The meeting is expected to include some prominent Democrats like Fannie Mae Chief Executive Franklin Raines, one of Clinton's budget directors, and Penny Pritzker, whose family founded Hyatt hotels and has long given money to Democratic candidates.
Others invited include Yahoo! Inc founder Jerry Yang, who supported Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore against Bush in the 2000 election, and Jerry Hood, who specialises in energy policy for the Teamsters union, which supported Bush's plan to drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Starting at 9 a.m. CDT (1400 GMT), the panels will cover economic recovery and job creation; corporate responsibility; small investors and retirement security; small business and smarter regulation; education and workers; trade; technology and innovation, and health care security.
The 90-minute discussions are based on the four themes of Bush's "economic security" agenda: creating jobs, expanding opportunities to save and invest, providing a good education and encouraging small business creation and home ownership.
This will be followed by a session with all the participants and a lunch closed to the media.
"There will be at least 14 hours of detailed, unscripted policy discussions," said Wilkinson. "The president knows the best solutions come from outside Washington. He wants to hear from these Americans who are on the front lines."