Peter W. Fulham, Columnist
Ideology: Democrat | Writing from: The College of the Holy Cross

If anyone had suspicions that Team Obama was indeed hurdling towards implosion, the Democratic Party’s catastrophe in Massachusetts last week surely confirmed them. Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and White House staffers both exchanged blame on Tuesday for the loss of the Senate seat that Democrats had held for almost five decades, and both had valid complaints. But as much as the Democratic establishment would care not to believe it, Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts was as much a consequence of his opponent’s fumbling, lethargic campaign as it was a result of widespread disillusionment among American voters. No one could ignore last week that Mr. Brown had tapped into a formidable and growing group of Americans, who are furious about high unemployment, a ballooning deficit, and an administration that seems tone deaf to the plight of the working class.

Cartoon credit: Eric Allie

It is far too early to write the obituary of the Obama administration. The president has plenty of time to recover from the populist fallout that is eroding his approval ratings. But if he wants a second term, Mr. Obama needs to take substantial action and send a vastly different message than he is right now.

It was naive and arrogant for the Obama administration to believe, simply by virtue of the president’s magical conciliatory abilities, that Democrats and Republicans could agree on a health care bill that marked an unprecedented expansion of government. Had Obama framed the health care debate appropriately — that is, had he explained the crucial relationship between providing universal health care and providing economic stability — he might have had a fighting chance of achieving some consensus. Instead, the president allowed the formation of his signature bill to fall largely to Congress, which showed a remarkable inability to overcome the unapologetic self-interest of senators like Max Baucus, let alone the profit-driven lobbying of American drug companies.

In the end, Americans were left with a hugely flawed bill, which looks unlikely to pass.

All the while, unemployment has skyrocketed to 10%, and the banks that caused the extraordinary financial disaster that almost lead to a second Great Depression have been rewarded with record profits, easy credit lines from the Federal Reserve, and skyrocketing bonuses. The only hint of a nod to the unintended consequences of Obama’s Wall Street rescue has been a solitary, hollow threat from the president — that he will not yield to “fat-cat bankers.”

It seems amazing that Mr. Obama, who was unswervingly attuned to the hopes and anger of voters during his campaign, could fall so quickly into oblivion. But this is the reality. So what should the president do?

He should start by finding economic spokespeople who appear to understand, on at least a rudimentary level, the pain of unemployed Americans — preferably someone who is not a Goldman Sachs alumnus or a Robert Rubin protege. Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke, Larry Summers, and Christina Romer may have played their cards right during the financial meltdown, and their decisions may well stand the test of time. But they have each proven to be almost as tone deaf as the president when fielding questions about middle-class anger. These are hardly the people to send out to explain on Meet the Press how the president is coming to terms with the plight of working Americans.

It’s not too late for Mr. Obama to make amends for failing to address the anger of disenfranchised voters. And it’s not too late for the Democrats to prevent a hemorrhage of seats in the House and Senate in 2010. With the support of Congress, the president should propose sweeping programs for job creation and middle-class tax relief. He should also make a commitment to sweeping Wall Street reform, as soon as possible. Health care can pass, but only if Congress starts writing this bill from scratch and makes meaningful concessions to conservatives. One thing is certain: If Democrats continue their present course, they can expect the bloodletting to begin in 2010.