Be the Change, Mr. President

Make no mistake, I am still in the Obama court as one of the president's supporters but he needs to “be the change” like the campaign posters said in 2008. He needs to jump out of the Washington D.C. box and do something vastly different. Here is some quick advice from the liberal peanut gallery.

1. Don’t pay too much attention to the Washington political establishment. Conventional wisdom says a president should not get too over exposed or risk looking non-presidential. Well, the time has come for unconventional wisdom. You should get on Twitter, Mr. President and let people know, a few times a day, what you are thinking.

2. Talk to the people who brought you to the dance. Get on the radio and many local television stations. President Bush met with talk show hosts in off the record sessions in the Oval Office, but he considered talk radio beneath him. Start talking and don’t worry about what kind of media is beneath the Presidency. Talk and be heard.

3. Give Fireside Chats a la President Roosevelt. Explain health care. Don’t do it in one speech or in a press conference, do it every couple of weeks. Do it on You Tube. Just do it.

4. Take on the budget and be willing to alienate the political establishment. Be willing to lose the next election by saying what's unpopular but true. Say the emperor has no clothes when it comes to our long-term deficit. Be the Ross Perot of the political establishment and say that the third rail of American politics -- Social Security and Medicare -- are going to put us at 300% of GDP by 2050, which means the Chinese will come and repossess our homes and our car.

5. Stop thinking that this is the 2008 campaign. Bring everyone in to meetings and forget who supported Hillary Clinton. Make sure the staff opens their doors to everyone. Be inclusive of ideas and people.

6. Make a list of all the things that the left and right don’t want to hear but in your experience as president you know are true. Then write a book, shout it from the Oval office and tell America the truth.

I do not believe that the Massachusetts special Senate election was a referendum on the Obama presidency but it is already being perceived that way. Perception is everything and in the start of his second year the president can change the perception. Be the Change, Mr. President.

Ellen Ratner is Washington bureau chief for Talk Radio News Service and a Fox News contributor.