As polls loom, Obama is dealt tough hand
LAS VEGAS — With crucial elections looming, President Barack Obama is lumbered with a tough political hand, touting a recovery many Americans do not feel, while economic data suggest the rebound may be slowing. The US President rested up in the gambling paradise of Las Vegas Thursday, after a day of politicking as November’s mid-term congressional polls approach with odds apparently lengthening for his Democrats. After a brutal year featuring prolonged high unemployment and bitter political battles, Democrats had hoped to be reaping the benefits by now of rescue policies Obama says staved off a second Great Depression. But while the economy is posting solid growth and creating jobs again, the party has seen negligible political benefit, with the jobless rate still at 9.5 percent, and confidence in the rebound ebbing. If political logical holds, and the economy dictates the course of elections, Obama and the Democrats could be in for trouble come November. So Obama is engaged on a mission to convince voters he understands things are still tough, while insisting the economy is healthier than it seems. He also argues that his policies will secure future growth and that had he not acted, things would have been much worse. On Thursday, in Missouri, Obama bemoaned the “sledgehammer” impact of the recession on the middle class, but warned things may not get better quickly. “We knew it took years to dig the hole we were in, and it would take some time to get out,” he said. Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100710com3.html |
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