Regardless if he is doing so behind closed doors, the perception is that he doesn't have the desire to be a leader for the people against the extremism from the other side in their assault on the Gov't, primarily social programs and job creation.
I saw the Pew Research poll that showed that a poll done 4 months after one done in April showed that even 90% more Republicans than the April figure said the president needed to stand up to Republicans - they're even unimpressed with the easy knockout.
Whereas the report showed that 60% more Conservative/Moderate Democrats wanted him to stand up to the GOP, than in April! The figures showed also that the already high figure for Liberal Democrats wanting to see a sitting Democratic president stand up against Republican opposition increased 33%, from 45% to 60%.
This is an ongoing problem that cannot be ignored. I know it is perhaps the biggest problem for this president outside of the unemployment numbers, and it's that he's seen as not being supportive enough of the people in fighting against the right-wing anti-Gov't 'tear it all down' extremism. By standing up to the GOP, he in turn could change the jobs problem.
He should go bold like FDR before him, and push forth a huge jobs bill, and stand in support of it and challenge the voters to punish the GOP-controlled House in the election if they don't want to help put America back to work today. I'm glad FDR made jobs a huge focus, and I wish the president would follow that man's footprint in history and seek to create millions of new jobs in months like was done in FDR's Civil Works Administration.
http://www.cafepress.com/barackobama12