In this appearance on PBS’s To the Contrary, Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel praises Obama’s successes in bolstering women’s rights, from economic to political. But she also points out women’s issues on which Obama should be far more outspoken, and how his leadership style, rooted in compromise, might not only hinder future progress in women’s rights but could also impair his chances of re-election.

Ultimately, reconnecting with people is at the heart of what Obama must do in order to improve his re-election odds, vanden Heuvel argues. Watch the clip to hear what exactly that reconnection would entail and why it matters.

—Elizabeth Whitman