As Matt Yglesias explains, President Obama's proposal to avert the fiscal cliff continues the payroll tax "holiday" (which overwhelmingly benefits middle-class workers) while the Republican counter-proposal ends it. The Republican proposal directly, not just implicitly, raises taxes on middle-class workers. Anyone who has a boss, essentially, will have their taxes go up. This should be such an obvious blunder, tactically speaking, that the Republican plan's favorables should go even further into the toilet. The President and his team should explain this in simple, Bill Clinton-like language- "My plan keeps tax rates lower for middle class workers and families, while raising rates a little bit for the wealthy. The Republican plan keeps rates lower for the wealthy, while raising taxes for nearly every American with a job. That's just not going to work."
Or something like that.