President Obama said he needs to improve his ability to work with congressional leaders to pass legislation.
“When you start governing there is a tendency sometimes, for me, to start thinking, ‘As long as I get the policy right, then that’s what should matter.’ And people have asked, ‘What do you need to do differently going forward?’ And I think you do that gut check after every election,” Obama said in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired on Sunday.
Obama said he needs to work on his ability to “sell” his ideas and push his agenda forward.
“And I think there are times, there’s no doubt about it, where, you know I think we have not been successful in going out there and letting people know what it is that we’re trying to do and why this is the right direction. So there is a failure of politics there that we’ve got to improve on,” he said.
The president also claimed some responsibility for his party’s defeat in the midterm elections.
“The buck stops right here at my desk. And so whenever, as the head of the party, it doesn’t do well, I’ve got to take responsibility for it. The message that I took from this election, and we’ve seen this in a number of elections, successive elections, is people want to see this city work,” Obama said.
The message that I took from this election, and we’ve seen this in a number of elections, successive elections, is people want to see this city work," Obama said.
Wrong message. Every politician ran away from Obama and his huge policy successes. The message Obama should have learned by now is the power of the bully pulpit… he wastes so much of his power by not pounding the table about his policies and why they’re good for the average American.
Thank you Mr. President for having the courage and integrity to accept responsibility.
We will now hear from the leaders of the GOTP who will accept responsibility for obstructing the efforts of the President and putting the wishes of a radical base ahead of the welfare of the country…
crickets
All the voting public heard was “failed policies, failed presidency” from the Rs. Very few on the left came out and forcefully refuted that lie and so it stuck. They not only didn’t refute it but they ran away from the leader of the party who could have made an articulate, coherent presentation of the facts: lower unemployment, lower gas prices, 10 million more people getting health insurance, etc., etc. Put that failure up against the observable apathy of voters at midterms, and it was to bound to be uphill and sadly be unsuccessful.
People were telling him this back in 2009 with the stimulus and Obamacare.
Sad, is probably the best descriptor for the moment.