My point is that it didn't matter what Obama's messaging was on jobs. The GOP was not going to pass it, or part if it, full stop. No amount of public pressure or even a lost election will dent it. Nothing. Just look at what's going on right now, and the new Congress has just begun.
I do think Obama's messaging on the jobs act was far better than it was with say, the original stimulus bill. (Which the Jobs Act closely resembled.) But Obama and Dems twisted themselves into knots and diluted their own message by engaging in the deficit hysteria. I wince every time Obama talks about jobs and cutting the deficit a few breaths apart. So he and Dems certainly could have had a better focus.
That said, while I think it did get through to the public, it doesn't matter. The GOP will not go along with any of Obama's job proposals. No messaging or public support etc. will change that. In part because the House GOP feels so entrenched due to redistricting that they can do pretty much what they want, knowing their majority is safe.
You keep saying that the GOP will not go along with any jobs bill regardless, and I agree, but the solution isn't to just give up and stop talking about it. You need an effective message to convince a large majority of voters that it's a good idea, and then when the GOP still won't vote for it, you constantly attack them for blocking it and constantly remind people why your idea is a good one, and then get more seats in the next election.
I know gerrymandering has made it really hard for Dems to get a majority, but that doesn't mean you should just give up and accept that nothing can happen. You just need to convince even more voters that your ideas are right, and the other side is wrong.
And it's really hard to convince people that more stimulus is a good idea when you've already folded to the Republican's premise that cutting the deficit and spending will create jobs. I'm saying that Democrats should have been repeating ad nauseum that cutting spending
will cut jobs, and they should have been constantly attacking Republicans for trying to turn us into Greece (via austerity measures). I think that could have been a winning argument and message considering all the facts behind it.
Instead, they just decided to agree with Republicans that deficit reduction needs to be our top priority. And while Obama may have won the messaging battle on the deficit (with the "balanced approach"), winning that doesn't get you anywhere on jobs when you've now got a majority of Americans who think cutting spending will lead to increased job growth!