NYTimes: White House Debates Fight on Economy.

In one corner...

Mr. Obama's senior adviser, David Plouffe, and his chief of staff, William M. Daley, want him to maintain a pragmatic strategy of appealing to independent voters by advocating ideas that can pass Congress, even if they may not have much economic impact. These include free trade agreements and improved patent protections for inventors.

Free trade agreements that ship more jobs overseas. Brilliant! And sure, a lack of patent protection is what's holding back the economy. (By the way, does anyone besides Dean Baker see the inherent contradiction between advocating for "free trade" and "intellectual property rights" at the same time?)

In the other corner...

But others, including Gene Sperling, Mr. Obama's chief economic adviser, say public anger over the debt ceiling debate has weakened Republicans and created an opening for bigger ideas like tax incentives for businesses that hire more workers, according to Congressional Democrats who share that view.

As Calculated Risk says:

Tax incentives are the "bigger idea"? It sounds like the debate is between doing nothing and doing very little.

Troubling as the above "ideas" are, the following is worse:

Administration officials, frustrated by the intransigence of House Republicans, have increasingly concluded that the best thing Mr. Obama can do for the economy may be winning a second term, with a mandate to advance his ideas on deficit reduction, entitlement changes, housing policy and other issues.

Yes, Obama hopes to win a second term so that he has a mandate for pushing Republican goals like deficit reduction and cutting Medicare and Social Security without Republican interference. Does anyone want to do anything about unemployment? Not even after the election?!?

Finally, just to twist the knife, there's this.

Republicans contend that the Obama administration has mismanaged the nation's recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. Mr. Obama's political advisers are struggling to define a response, aware that their prospects may rest on persuading voters that the results of the first term matter less than the contrast between their vision for the next four years and the alternative economic ideas offered by Republicans.

So far, most signs point to a continuation of the nonconfrontational approach -- better to do something than nothing -- that has defined this administration. Mr. Obama and his aides are skeptical that voters will reward bold proposals if those ideas do not pass Congress. It is their judgment that moderate voters want tangible results rather than speeches.

"If you're talking about a stunt, I don't think a stunt is what the American people are looking for," the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, told reporters on Wednesday. They're looking for leadership, and they're looking for a focus on economic growth and job creation."

It's not a stunt to advocate policies that will actually work, or to blame Republicans for obstruction. Telling me you're pushing for deficit reduction, trade agreements, and patent protection because it will create jobs, and hoping the economy recovers on its own in the meantime... that's a stunt.

I think we are down to hoping that Rick Perry's calls for divine intervention start working once he is in the White House.