[Julian E. Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and author of "Jimmy Carter.”]

President Obama is having trouble connecting....

Part of the problem does have to do with his personality and public persona....

In this respect, he does face similar challenges that Jimmy Carter confronted in the 1970s. Carter learned that in bad economic times the public would reacted poorly to a leader who seemed professorial and clinical about the problems of the day. Voters wanted a leader who could save them, not one who could explain things or tell them what to do....