FORT MYERS, Fla. - President Obama is tying his political fate to his success or failure of improving the troubled economy.
On the road pitching the $838 billion economic stimulus package that won approval in the Senate yesterday, the president said he expects to be judged by results and that he won’t make any excuses if he fails.
“I won’t lie to you,” Obama said.
“If it turns out that a few years from now people don’t feel like the economy’s turned around, that we’re still having problems, that folks are still unemployed, that our health care system’s not more efficient, then, you know, you guys won’t applaud me the next time I come down here,” he told his Florida audience. “If stuff hasn’t worked and people don’t feel like I’ve led the country in the right direction, then you’ll have a new president.”
That was a clear reference to his likely re-election bid in four years.
Republicans have issued a drumbeat of criticism against the president’s stimulus bill, calling it too big, too jammed with special spending projects and too light on tax cuts to jump-start the economy. Not a single House Republican voted for the bill last week, and in the Senate yesterday, just three Republicans signed on. The bill now faces tough joint congressional negotiations.
So, just three weeks into his presidency, Obama left Washington to fight back. Again and again, in town halls Monday and yesterday, Obama made the case for how the stimulus would better the lives of Average Joes.
There were signs that his argument was getting through. About halfway through his appearance here, Obama was handed a note informing him that the Senate had just approved its version of the stimulus package. When he relayed the news to the crowd, the entire room of about 1,500 people leapt to its feet and cheered - and this from an audience that wasn’t prescreened and in a community where John McCain had prevailed easily in November.
The president’s next stop: Peoria, Ill.
Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/2009_02_11_President_Barack_Obama_says_he_won_t_seek_re-election_if_stimulus_fails/
On the road pitching the $838 billion economic stimulus package that won approval in the Senate yesterday, the president said he expects to be judged by results and that he won’t make any excuses if he fails.
“I won’t lie to you,” Obama said.
“If it turns out that a few years from now people don’t feel like the economy’s turned around, that we’re still having problems, that folks are still unemployed, that our health care system’s not more efficient, then, you know, you guys won’t applaud me the next time I come down here,” he told his Florida audience. “If stuff hasn’t worked and people don’t feel like I’ve led the country in the right direction, then you’ll have a new president.”
That was a clear reference to his likely re-election bid in four years.
Republicans have issued a drumbeat of criticism against the president’s stimulus bill, calling it too big, too jammed with special spending projects and too light on tax cuts to jump-start the economy. Not a single House Republican voted for the bill last week, and in the Senate yesterday, just three Republicans signed on. The bill now faces tough joint congressional negotiations.
So, just three weeks into his presidency, Obama left Washington to fight back. Again and again, in town halls Monday and yesterday, Obama made the case for how the stimulus would better the lives of Average Joes.
There were signs that his argument was getting through. About halfway through his appearance here, Obama was handed a note informing him that the Senate had just approved its version of the stimulus package. When he relayed the news to the crowd, the entire room of about 1,500 people leapt to its feet and cheered - and this from an audience that wasn’t prescreened and in a community where John McCain had prevailed easily in November.
The president’s next stop: Peoria, Ill.
Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view/2009_02_11_President_Barack_Obama_says_he_won_t_seek_re-election_if_stimulus_fails/
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