The Plan For 2014

President Obama will come out swinging on Monday when he's back from Hawaii and ready to take on the GOP over some big issues that they continue to block against the will of the people:  immigration reform, federal unemployment benefits, and helping the working poor by boosting the minimum wage, all issues that have broad approval across a majority of Americans.

The president's advisers hope comprehensive immigration reform, perhaps Obama’s number one goal of his second term, can still be in play in 2014. 

“It remains a top, top, top priority,” a White House official said. 

And Obama’s most pressing concern is to retain the Senate. Republicans believe they can win the six seats they’d need to take over the upper chamber, something that would force Obama to play defense in his remaining years in office. 

To bolster the chances for Democratic Senate candidates and Obama’s agenda, White House aides are looking to tap into the themes of fairness and equality—which they believe helped Obama win the presidency twice. 

Part and parcel of that effort is the immediate push on extending unemployment benefits, an efffot that started before Obama flew to Honolulu. Obama is expected to hold an event to push the issue early this week. 

In the same vein, they plan to aggressively push to hike the minimum wage to $10.10, backing a recent proposal by Congressional Democrats. 

Both issues are intended to telegraph a message about the inequality gap in the country, underlining differences with Republicans that the White House and Democrats think can be exploited in an election year. 

“It’s a fight we’re happy to have,” said the White House official. 

In short, the Republicans are about to remind everybody why a Democrat was elected President...and then re-elected President.