President Obama has been utilizing more fiery rhetoric than usual as he tries to rally support for his jobs bill, revealing his frustration with the GOP’s obstinate refusal to pass measures that would help the economy. The president is aware that Republicans are trying to thwart progress for the sake of elections, and he knows the state of the economy might jeopardize his own re-election hopes. Even so, the president rejects blame for the economic situation, denying that his administration has made mistakes.
Placing the blame solely on Republicans might be somewhat accurate, but it does not necessarily bolster confidence that Obama will be able to solve the unemployment crisis in the remainder of this term or the next one. While politicians are pointing fingers at each other, Americans are still struggling in the economy. Their anger at the government’s inaction will undoubtedly play out in the polls.
In a recent interview with ABC News’ senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper, Obama admitted that the economy is still in a precarious position, but he stood by his decisions so far.
Obama: I guarantee it’s going to be a close election because the economy is not where it wants to be and even though I believe all the choices we’ve made have been the right ones, we’re still going through difficult circumstances. That means people who may be sympathetic to my point of view still kind of feel like, yeah, but it still hasn’t gotten done yet. This is going to be a close election and a very important one for the American people. The thing I hope the most is that everyone is going to be paying close attention to the debate that takes place because it could determine not just what happens over the next four years, but what’ll happen over the next 20 or 30 years.
Tapper: The math is tough for you: 47 percent of the country voted against you with everything going your way, pretty much. It’s not difficult to think that there are four million Americans who thought well, I gave him a shot. It didn’t work. Unemployment is still high. Let’s give this other guy another chance.
Obama: There’s no doubt about it. I think someone asked me a while back if they thought I was the underdog and I said I was in 2008 and I think will be in 2012. You know, presidential elections in America are always tough because this is a country that is diverse. We have a lot of folks who feel very strongly on one side of the ledger or the other, but the thing I’m spending most of my time thinking about right now is how can I put people to work right now and how can I improve the economy right now and stabilize it.
