Column: President Obama should quit campaigning, start governing

Faced with some concern that his second term is not off to the kind of start that ultimately will produce a positive historic legacy, President Barack Obama has finally begun to reach out on a personal basis to select Republicans to try to break the debilitating impasse in Congress.

It’s about time. At stake is a whole raft of initiatives on which he has counted to boost his legacy.

His performance since Inauguration Day barely has rated a C grade. His disdain for serious negotiation has been almost monumental, and his continuing use of campaign-like attack rhetoric in forums around the nation has managed only to lower his job approval rating. The most recent Gallup Poll showed it at 47 percent, down from 53 percent in January.

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