First, his slogan was "Change." Then it was "Forward." So tonight, as President Barack Obama lays out his second-term agenda tonight in his first  State of the Union since winning re-election, he'll also be giving a sense of what his presidential brand looks to stand for in the final years of his administration, too.

It's reported that he plans to focus on unfinished business such as immigration reform, educational improvement, gun control and climate change. The White House also promises an emphasis on the still-stagnant U.S. economy and ideas for federal spending to stimulate it. 

At the same time, an unspoken part of Obama's agenda remains outmaneuvering the opposition Republican Party, which is facing its own crossroads as the president grabs the spotlight again this evening.Continue reading...

Americans have come to expect squat from the Postal Service, Amtrak, Congress, utilities and nearly anything run by the government except the U.S. military and Cash for Clunkers.

Maybe that’s why we have come to expect so little from airlines these days: Now they’re essentially public brands.

They’ve been hemmed in by layer upon layer of new regulations for travel safety, protection from terrorism, smoking, shearing, noise abatement and other things too numerous to mention. And airlines have become squeezed by fuel costs, latent financial liabilities for frequent-flyer tickets, industry-wide consolidation and the devastation of revenues by the Great Recession.Continue reading...

The president may be ensnarled with Congress right now over the fate of his sweeping health-care reform proposals, defied by Iran over nuclear proliferation on the Persian peninsula, and chagrined by poll numbers that are the worst in his short presidency.

But Barack Obama has another big problem that may rank with the others in regard to its long-term impact: His brand – built upon a foundation of values such as change, bipartisanship, and hope – has begun to wane. That was evident in a string of state-level races, beginning last fall, in which Obama’s personal appearances and popularity failed to win the day for Democrats. And that sort of thing also has to concern him a bit about 2012 if not before.

Some former Obama insiders who already have been victimized by Obama’s troubles – or helped cause them – illustrate his problem.Continue reading...