Obama: “I’m Not Naïve.”
Speaking to a student town hall in Istanbul, Turkey, President Obama emphasized both his ambitions and his realism about his hopes for international cooperation. “My attitude is, is that all these things are hard,” he said. “I mean, I’m not naïve. If it was easy, it would have already been done. Somebody else would have done it. But if we don’t try, if we don’t reach high, then we won’t make any progress. And I think that there’s a lot of progress that can be made.”
Obama Tours Turkey, Is Coming Back To Washington
President Obama met with religious leaders at 3:50 a.m. ET in Istanbul, Turkey. At 5:10 a.m. ET he toured the Hagia Sophia with Prime Minister Erdogan, and they toured the Blue Mosque at 5:40 a.m. ET. At 6:20 a.m. ET he held a student town hall, and Obama left Turkey at 8:30 a.m. ET. He is scheduled to arrive back in Washington at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden is having breakfast with Hillary Clinton this morning. He will then host a pair of conference calls to discuss stimulus implementation, one with a group of governors and the other with a group of mayors from across the country.
More Ballots to Be Counted Today In Minnesota
This is a big day in the Minnesota Senate race, as the state will count a number of previously-rejected absentee ballots, which the judges examined yesterday to select the ones for counting. The proceedings are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET, with an official from the Secretary of State’s office counting the ballots in the courtroom. A video stream will be available at The Uptake.
Poll: Very High Approval For Obama, Mixed News On Economic Attitudes
The new CBS/New York Times poll finds President Obama with an approval rating of 66%, to only 24% disapproval. The public has mixed attitudes on the economy: Only 34% believe it is getting worse, compared to 60% in December 2008, and 20% say it’s getting better compared to 8% in December. On the other hand, 49% expect the recession to last another two years or more, 38% say a year, and only 10% say six months.
Lieberman Pans Obama On Missile Defense
The Hill reports that Joe Lieberman has sent a letter to the White House, co-signed by one Democrat and four Republicans, criticizing the Obama administration for planning to pull back on missile defense. “Cooperation on missile defense is now a critical component of many of our closest security partnerships around the world,” the letter said. “We fear that cuts to the budget for missile defense could inadvertently undermine these relationships and foster the impression that the United States is an unreliable ally.”
Chafee Forms Committee To Run For Gov. of Rhode Island
Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) has formed an exploratory committee to potentially run for governor of Rhode Island. In the years since his defeat in 2006, Chafee left the Republican Party and endorsed Barack Obama for president, and if he runs for governor he will be an independent.
Corporate Political Donations Fall — But Are Still High
The Wall St. Journal reports that political contributions from corporate PACs for the last two months have fallen six percent when compared to the same period in 2007, in the current tough economic climate. However, corporate political donations are still higher than they were at the equivalent points in 2001, 2003 and 2005, which was a period of huge increases.
