President Barack Obama, the toast of the world before he took the oath of office, is off to a better start than either his detractors or his supporters seem to realize. He’s getting a particularly bad rap on his commitment to bipartisanship — while 74 percent of respondents to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll said he was “trying to work with Republicans,” only 37 percent felt bipartisanship was the right approach, while 56 percent said he should “stick to the policies” he promised in the campaign.
However, it was President Obama’s efforts to reach out to Republican moderates that enabled him to win a crucial victory in the Senate on the most gigantic financial stimulus in the nation’s history. In fact, in terms of what he has accomplished in a short time, Mr. Obama is ahead of two other presidential over-achievers: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
2 comments:
One of the many appeals of now-President Obama during the campaign was that he wasn’t committed to “politics as usual” and the Washington way of doing things in particular. To live that out, one of the things he has been doing as President is seeking able people of either party to accomplish the goals he set out.
In typical “politics as usual” fashion, some people are now upset with this. Give us change – but only so much change, and only so fast.
Golly, John – sounds like the Church!
Amen!
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