Let’s agree that what matters isn’t how many jobs you “get caught trying” to create, but how many jobs you actually create. There’s virtually no evidence that if Obama makes more speeches on jobs, his poll numbers will go up or the labor market will improve. There’s lots of evidence that if he passes policies that create more jobs, his poll numbers will go up and the labor market will improve. The question, then, isn’t how Obama can get “caught trying.” It’s how — or whether — he can succeed.
Obama can make the best speeches about the necessity for action on the economy in history, but they won’t matter at all if the economy doesn’t actually improve, and if the economy does improve significantly he’ll win no matter what he says.