Washington --

President Obama and his senior aides are considering whether the White House should adopt a more combative approach on economic issues, seeking to highlight substantive differences with Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail rather than continuing to pursue elusive compromises, advisers to the president say.

Administration officials, frustrated by the intransigence of House Republicans, are increasingly turning their attention toward next year's election, reflecting a belief that the best thing the president can do for the economy is to win a second term, with a mandate to advance his ideas on deficit reduction, entitlement change, housing policy and other issues.

The question is whether voters would reward bolder proposals even if they could not pass Congress.

Obama's senior adviser, David Plouffe, and chief of staff, William Daley, have advocated a centrist approach for the past year. That camp argues that Obama should maintain his focus on appealing to independent voters by advocating ideas that can pass Congress, but may not have much economic impact. These include free trade agreements and improved patent protections for inventors.

But others, including Obama's chief economic adviser, Gene Sperling, and congressional Democrats, have been pressing the president to channel what they see as rising public anger about Washington's management of the economy. They argue that the fallout from the debt ceiling debate has weakened Republicans and created an opening for bolder ideas, like expanding payroll tax cuts. Either Republicans agree and the economy benefits, they say, or the president can campaign against their opposition.

Republicans contend that the Obama administration has mismanaged the nation's recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. Obama's political advisers are struggling to define a response, aware that their prospects may rest on convincing voters that the results of the first term matter less than the contrast between their vision for the next four years and the economic ideas offered by Republicans.

Administration officials say that their focus is on a number of smaller programs that could benefit the economy, a theme Obama has emphasized in his recent speeches.