How well the economy is doing on November 6, 2012, will likely be the single most important factor in how America votes.
And even though Republicans appear dead-set on blocking any legislative measure President Barack Obama comes up with that could actually stimulate growth, the president isn't entirely impotent when it comes to goosing the economy between now and Election Day -- on his own.
Several progressive thinkers contacted by The Huffington Post described six approaches Obama could still take unilaterally -- if he's willing to get a bit more assertive about things -- that could make an impact before November.
Obama himself has indicated he's thinking along these lines. "Now, there are steps that we can take absent congressional action," he said during a Friday press conference in France.
He cited the measures he approved in late October to reduce the burden of student loans. And, he said at the time: "We're going to keep on rolling out administrative steps that we can take that strengthen the economy."
But Obama wasn't exactly giddy about the prospects of executive action. Congress controls the purse strings, which means, as he put it: "If we're going to do something big to jumpstart the economy ... Congress is going to need to act."
Another caveat: Two days after the 2010 midterm elections, with a near-certain legislative deadlock looming, The Huffington Post spoke to a number of progressive leaders and compiled an entire agenda Obama could have pursued without Congress's help. Obama didn't adopt any part of it.
