The emergence of the new tough-talking, angry-sounding, confrontational President Obama has heartened liberals who worried that he was too willing to compromise and unable to hold his ground on issues that Democrats really cared about. By taking a page from Truman's playbook, Give 'Em Hell Barack is betting that he can stir up his restive base.

But the strategy also risks Obama's most precious asset: his likability. Even as his approval ratings have sunk into the low 40s, 78 percent of Americans in an AP poll conducted in August characterized him as "a likable person."