The formula for restoring national confidence \u201d\u201d part good policy, part good politics, part good luck \u201d\u201d can be hard to find. It eluded Herbert Hoover after the Crash of \u201929, Lyndon B. Johnson after the Tet offensive, Jimmy Carter after the energy shock and George W. Bush after Iraq turned from quick victory to bloody insurgency.<\/p>\n
But President Obama has to try to do just that in a time of crisis. As the government announced this week that the nation\u2019s largest banks had steered away from the precipice and that job losses were beginning to slow, Mr. Obama has carefully begun trying to mine any national leader\u2019s most precious commodity in a crisis: optimism.<\/p>\n
His past references to \u201cglimmers of hope\u201d\u009d were modestly upgraded at the White House on Friday, with his declaration \u201d\u201d which he stumbled over, taking some of the assertiveness out of the line \u201d\u201d that \u201cthe gears of our economic engine do appear to be slowly turning once again.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n