ELYRIA, Ohio — PRESIDENT OBAMA, STRIKING A NO-RETREAT, NO-SURRENDER POSTURE IN THE WAKE OF HIS PARTY’S HUMILIATING DEFEAT IN THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE RACE THIS WEEK, VOWED TO PRESS ON WITH HIS EXPANSIVE DOMESTIC AGENDA—INCLUDING A HEALTH CARE OVERHAUL AND TOUGH NEW RESTRICTIONS ON BANKS—EVEN IF IT MEANT HE HAD TO “TAKE MY LUIMPS” FROM POLITICAL CRITICS.
Mr. Obama came to this Cleveland suburb for the second stop on his White House to Main Street Tour to spread the word that his administration is about jobs, jobs, jobs. With his approval rating down to about 50 percent, a bruising season of midterm elections ahead and Democrats reeling from the resounding note of disapproval in Massachusetts, the ordinarily cool and cerebral Mr. Obama sounded unusually defiant, even fiery, at a town hall-style question and answer session at Lorain County Community College here.
The president used the word “fight,” or some version of it, more than 20 times.
Mr. Obama vowed to “never stop fighting for policies that will help restore home values.” He promised that he was “not going to stop fighting to give our kids the best education possible.” He pledged he would not “stop fighting to give every American a fair shake,” to continue fighting for a new Consumer Protection Agency and for openness in government. And of course, Mr. Obama pledged to fight for jobs.
“So long as I have some breath in me, so long as I have the privilege of serving as your president, I will not stop fighting for you,” Mr. Obama said. “I will take my lumps. But I won’t stop fighting to bring back jobs here.”
The president’s appearance here comes one day after he picked an especially big fight, with Wall Street, by calling for new limits on banks that would prevent them from becoming too big to fail. He sounded as if he would relish it.
“It’s going to be a fight,” the president said, warming up to the crowd. “You watch. I guarantee you, when we start on financial regulatory reform, trying to change the rules to prevent what has caused so much heartache all across the country, there are people who are going to say, ‘Why is he meddling in government’ or ‘Why is he meddling in the financial industry? It’s another example of Obama being big government.’ No, I just want to have some rules in place so that when these guys make dumb decisions, you don’t end up having to foot the bill. That’s pretty straightforward. I don’t mind having a fight.”
Mr. Obama’s bellicose rhetoric carried echoes of his tone in the 2008 campaign. He is now trying to strike a more populist tone to tap into anger many Americans feel about bailouts on Wall Street while Main Street is suffering. At the same time, the White House is trying to frame the midterm elections on terms favorable to Mr. Obama, by casting him as someone who will stand with the little guy, even if those fighting words contrast with his image as a politician who cares about bringing people together.
“There will be a fulsome debate about who is fighting for Main Street and who is siding with the special interests,” said Dan Pfeiffer, Mr. Obama’s communications director, adding, “There is nothing inconsistent between trying to bring people together to solve problems and standing up to the insurers and the lobbyists.”
Mr. Obama’s shift in tone actually began last week, before Tuesday’s bruising loss in Massachusetts, when the president appeared before the House Democrats and warned that if Republicans want to “stand up for the status quo” and block his health care bill, “that is a fight I want to have.” He used a version of that language at the White House on Thursday in announcing his plan for restrictions on banks.
While here, Mr. Obama made a plea for the health care bill, which is in disarray now that Scott Brown, the Republican, has been elected senator in Massachusetts, depriving Democrats of the 60th vote they need to pass a sweeping overhaul.
Conceding that the plan had “hit a little bit of a buzz saw this week,” Mr. Obama acknowledged that the process “has been less than pretty” and that the measure was so big and unwieldy it looked like “a monstrosity,” creating fear and anxiety among ordinary Americans. But he made the case that passing the measure was an imperative.
“This is our best chance to do it,” the president said. “We can’t keep on putting this off.”
Mr. Obama rode to office on the strength of his cool temperament, but in recent weeks, even some Democrats have questioned whether he appears too distant from voters. Earlier this week, in an interview with ABC, the president acknowledged that many Americans have a sense of “remoteness and detachment” from policy makers in Washington.
On Friday, Mr. Obama alluded to it again, saying it was “pretty easy to get a warped view of things” in Washington. With all the problems he faces in the capital, he sounded especially happy to be let loose for a few hours.
“It’s just nice being out of Washington,” he said, adding, “I mean there are some nice people in Washington, but it can drive you crazy.”
Posted By: Richard Kigel
Saturday, January 23rd 2010 at 7:32AM
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