President Obama on Monday called for a one-year extension of Bush-era tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year.

David Rohde
Professor of political science, Duke University.
rohde@duke.edu
http://polisci.duke.edu/people?subpage=profile&Gurl=/aas/PoliticalScience&Uil=rohde 

Rohde specializes in campaigns and elections, and American politics.

Quote:
"Presidents have limited ability to affect the public's thoughts on what issues are important, but they will do what they can. Obama cannot make people forget that the economy is not recovering as quickly as they want, but he may be able to get them to think that other issues are also important, and that there are other reasons for voting choice.

"Tax fairness is one of those additional issues. It is also an issue that can help him to motivate the Democratic base. The decision on whether to vote is as important as the decision on how to vote, and a lot easier to affect."