Low hopes for Obama's promised year of action Barely a year after his re-election with a vote to rival that of America's most popular presidents, Barack Obama is finding his second term in the same slump that trapped the administration of his unpopular predecessor, George W Bush. Mr Obama's low approval ratings and loss of trust with the electorate have set the bar high for his State of the Union address on Tuesday, the forum where presidents lay out their policy agenda for the year. Mr Obama and his advisers have promised a "year of action," preparing the ground for a series of presidential pronouncements bypassing Congress on everything from climate change to the economy. "We will be looking for areas of bipartisan co-operation, but he won't be waiting on Congress to act," said Dan Pfeiffer, Mr Obama's senior adviser, in previewing the plan. The phrase has drawn ridicule from a Washington media that has grown bored with Mr Obama and is increasingly dialling down expectations for his ability to influence domestic policy decisively. Slate magazine suggested a more accurate tagline for 2014 would be "A Year of Grinding Torpor," foreshadowing more interminable fights with conservatives in Congress. The White House's determination to get around what they see as congenital Republican intransigence on Capitol Hill has the potential to make Mr Obama's dysfunctional relations there worse. "I didn't think I could be surprised by this president any more but to have him openly threaten to go around Congress by using executive orders - it demeans the office," said Mick Mulvaney, a South Carolina Republican, often aligned with the Tea Party. Mr Obama has long been criticised for failing to bend Congress to his will, a notion his advisers dismiss as "magical thinking" that underestimates the historical levels of partisanship. Mr Obama himself seems resigned to the situation, telling the New Yorker in an interview published this week: "There is a Republican base of voters for whom compromise with me is a betrayal." Some of the president's closest outside advisers are equally pessimistic about a thaw between the White House and Capitol Hill. "It's not irreparable, but it's not something that would be called (Mr Obama's) strong suit," said one prominent supporter. The White House made clear its intention to use the power of the presidential office with the appointment earlier this year of John Podesta, a long time top Democratic adviser and policy maker. Mr Podesta, an experienced hand from Bill Clinton's White House, has long advocated more aggressive tactics, advice now falling on fertile ground in an administration whose authority is running down. "One understanding John (Podesta) came to the White House with was that he could spend some of his time orchestrating its efforts on climate change," said Tom Daschle, a former Democratic Senate Majority leader. Aside from climate change, Mr Obama's speech is expected to focus on the economy, notably lifting the federal minimum wage and other measures he believes will combat entrenched inequality. The policy most responsible for the drop in Mr Obama's ratings, the disastrous rollout of his health reform, has quietly begun to turn around, with the numbers enrolling in the scheme rising, more states signing on to its benefits for the poor and the issue all but disappearing from the front pages. "The White House are feeling much better about where things are right now," said Mr Daschle, a longtime health policy expert who said a series of once-in-a-generation changes to the system are settling in. Republicans have begun to acknowledge the new reality and the leadership is moving off a total war footing against the law to build a consensus around an alternative policy. The damage, however, may be done. "That is going to be a problem unless he can bring his ratings back," said the close Obama supporter. The areas where Mr Obama has the best chance to work with Congress are immigration, where Republicans are grappling with internal divisions, and trade, where Democrats are reluctant to back the president's negotiations with the Asia-Pacific and Europe. But slowly, the focus is creeping beyond this year's midterm elections, which could leave Republicans with majorities in both chambers of Congress, to a post-Obama era. The likes of Mr Mulvaney warn that a slew of executive actions from Mr Obama will come back to bite Democrats, as conservatives will be sure to return the favour. "Start to think what that type of attitude might mean to my Democrat friends," he said, "if it was offered by Rick Perry (the Texas governor) or Rand Paul (the Kentucky senator) a couple of years from now."