President Obama faces three overlapping questions: When will middle-of-the-road voters start blaming him for the sick economy? When will he act decisively to deal with the mess that is our banking system? And can he keep managing his political two-step of appealing simultaneously to centrists and progressives? Meanwhile, the flood of bad news is empowering Obama critics who style themselves as moderates. They will continue saying that the president, in trying to keep his campaign promises on health care and energy, is “overreaching” and not focusing on economic recovery.

It’s hard for the fair-minded not to have some sympathy for Obama. He has been in office for less than two months, and no president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has inherited such an “unholy mess,” as one of Obama’s top advisers put it.

Moreover, some of the criticisms are nonsense. Wall Street conservatives — well-represented on the financial cable shows and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page — are arguing that the stock market is collapsing because Obama wants to institute a relatively modest set of tax increases on the wealthy, starting in 2011.

But these voices supported lower taxes on the rich when the economy was bad, when the economy was good and when the economy was so-so. They have no credibility. These same voices claim to worry about future budget deficits. Do they really believe we can fix the deficit without tax increases?

As for criticisms from the moderates, it’s balderdash to call Obama’s policies “radical.” They seem radical only in comparison with the right-wing approach the government has pursued in recent years. Particularly on health care, it would be irresponsible for Obama not to press the reforms he promised in his campaign. And what could be more “moderate” than the open, pragmatic approach Obama took during his White House health-care summit last week? No, the president is not “overreaching.” His agenda is focused on a few big things.

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