WASHINGTON — Faced with anxiety in financial markets about the huge federal deficit and the potential for it to become an electoral liability for Democrats, the White House and Congressional leaders are weighing options for narrowing the gap, including a bipartisan commission that could force tax increases and spending cuts.

Senator Kent Conrad, a co-sponsor of a plan to create a deficit-cutting commission says, “It is imperative that we act.”

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But even the idea of a panel to bridge the partisan divide has run into partisan objections. Many Democrats, including in the White House, are loath...