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If we had President Obama’s and Secretary Vilsack’s ear…

I said throughout the primary season and the general election that the ascendancy of Barack Obama to the presidency is the stuff of Hollywood fantasy. All through the seemingly endless campaign we had bipartisan political, personal and public explosions that defied experience, prompting more than one pundit to declare, “You can’t make this stuff up.”

I’m also convinced the original Obama plan in 2006 was to spend the two-year election cycle creating national name recognition for the junior senator from Illinois, expecting Hillary Clinton to snag the nomination, win the election and give Obama the chance to spend four or eight years creating the record on which presidential candidates usually run.

But the man created an unprecedented election machine, packaged his intellect, communications skills and charisma, identified and embraced a message of hope and change that captured the national psyche and resonated across generations and the country. Now, there must be those private moments when he’s got to feel kind of like, as President Clinton put it at his first inaugural, the proverbial dog that chased the fire truck, as in “now that I’ve caught it, what the heck do I do with it?”

President Obama inherited what is arguably one of the ugliest political portfolios in modern history. It’s patently unfair to judge him on his first 21 days. Heck, most of his folks are still looking for the restrooms and wondering how to get into the White House parking lot. However, it is fair to use these first three weeks as indicators of thinking, style and direction.

It’s fair to say, these first three weeks have been very rocky for the new Chief Executive what with closing Guantanamo prison without knowing where you’re sending the prisoners; his parade of appointees seemingly dropping like flies because they didn’t pay their taxes or took dodgy campaign contributions, or the “exceptions” he’s granting to his “lobbyists-are-evil” ethics rule. Some are apparently less evil than others.

Granted, a lot of the official business done in the last three weeks is playing to the bleachers, picking the low-hanging fruit that make your supporters feel good. But, there’ve been more than enough missteps. There’s still time to drop back and regroup. Let’s play presidential advisor and give President Obama a couple of suggestions.

First, focus. No one expects President Obama to be all things to all citizens all the time, nor to opine publicly on all issues confronting the country. I want him — for now — focused like a laser beam on the economy, and in browbeating both the Democrats and Republicans into putting aside this junk we call a stimulus package and forging a bill that actually stimulates the economy, not the egos of politicians.

Second, stay home. President Obama should operate from the White House, not some event stage in the hinterland. Someone has convinced Obama he needs to be everywhere all the time. I’d rather think he’s working than doing PR appearances.

Third, when it comes to the economy, the bailout, the outlook for good times, President Obama needs to reverse course. He needs to stop using the words “catastrophe” and “disaster” and setting these “do-it-now-or-else” ultimatums. Remember: You were the candidate of “hope.”

Folks are nervous enough about their immediate and long-term futures. The President, in this case, needs to be a national cheerleader, the pastor, the priest, the guy who instills hope, not fear. Heck, if the President sees the glass as half empty, what am I to think? While no one wants blue sky rhetoric or false promise, there are developments about which the Administration can talk positively. Plus, these doomsday speeches are beginng to be too creepily reminiscent of Jimmy Carter.

Nuff said.

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Speaking of low-hanging fruit, as in playing to your supporters, this week Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the Washington Post that he “absolutely agreed” that USDA represents not just farmers, but also consumers. He first iterated that sentiment in a press release on the Census of Agriculture earlier in the week, saying, “I will be directing my team at USDA to review the findings…and propose ambitious, measureable goals to make sure that the People’s Department is hard at work for all the people – our diverse customers and the full diversity of agriculture.”

That “People’s Department” reference threw me at first. Then I was reminded by a colleague that President Lincoln first referred to USDA using that expression.

The key to all things is moderation and balance. The Post reporter said Vilsack’s statement was a “significant departure” from the traditional role of USDA. Not so much, really. It’s always been a department where you must remember that 100% of the country is your constituency, not just the really vocal 10% of any philosophy. That means food pricing, not just variety; food availability, not just production process, and it means not disadvantaging one segment when picking that low-hanging fruit.