Obama begins political counteroffensive this week
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama launches a political counteroffensive this week, weighed down by a stunted economy, wilting support among some of his most ardent backers, and a daily bashing from the slew of Republicans campaigning for his job.
"We've still got a long way to go to get to where we need to be. We didn't get into this mess overnight, and it's going to take time to get out of it," the president told the country over the weekend, all but pleading for people to stick with him.
A deeply unsettled political landscape, with voters in a fiercely anti-incumbent mood, is framing the 2012 presidential race 15 months before Americans decide whether to give Obama a second term or hand power to the Republicans. Trying to ride out what seems to be an unrelenting storm of economic anxiety, people in the United States increasingly are voicing disgust with most all of the men and women, Obama included, they sent to Washington to govern them.
With his approval numbers sliding, the Democratic president will try to ease their worries and sustain his resurrected fighting spirit when he sets off Monday on a bus tour of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. The trip is timed to dilute the GOP buzz emanating from the Midwest after Republicans gathered in Iowa over the weekend for a first test of the party's White House candidates. The state holds the nation's first nominating test in the long road toward choosing Obama's opponent.
"You have just sent a message that Barack Obama will be a one-term president," Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann told elated supporters minutes after winning Saturday's Iowa straw poll, essentially a fundraising event that also tests a candidate's organizational and financial strength. She spent heavily and traveled throughout the state where she was born, casting herself as the evangelical Christian voice of the deeply conservative small-government, low-tax tea party wing of the GOP.
Bachmann pulled in 4,823 votes, or 29 percent of those cast, edging out Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who drew 4,671 votes, or 28 percent. But while Democrats probably rejoiced that Bachmann's ultraconservative voice gained strength among Republican contenders, the contest to challenge Obama in November 2012 grew even more jumbled. While the voting was under way in Ames, Iowa, Republicans also had to keep an eye on South Carolina, where Texas Gov. Rick Perry made a cleverly timed entrance into the race.
Like Bachmann and all the other candidates, Perry ravaged Obama. He said the president was presiding over an "economic disaster," in a declaration that stole some of Bachmann's political thunder and undercut the front-runner status of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who didn't compete in the Iowa test vote. Perry clearly cast a broad shadow across the Republican contest.
President Bush Business Favors - News
Like his predecessor, President Barack Obama favors an immigration overhaul that would put illegal immigrants on the path to legalization. The administration began targeting employers because they are the "magnet" for illegal immigration since they
The polls, posted by Bruce Bartlett -- a former official in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George HW Bush who later became a critic of George W. Bush, span the last several months and suggest that Americans consistently believe deficit
If nothing else, voters won't be able to ignore the fact that Perry's speaking style and swagger are eerily reminiscent of another Texas governor who made the transition to the national stage, President George W. Bush. Both men were Air Force pilots.
Previously, Williams worked as a prosecutor in the US Department of Justice and also held high-level positions in the Treasury Department and Education Department during the tenure of President George HW Bush.
» The South Korean Free Trade Agreement was signed under President George W. Bush in 2007 but not submitted to Congress. It was renegotiated and signed by President Barack Obama and submitted to Congress, where it awaits a vote along with two other
Hundreds Of Miles Apart, Romney And Perry Trade Barbs
Mitt Romney said Monday his experience in business would help propel him over his opponents for the GOP presidential nomination, including the man who threatens to be his biggest rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Facing reporters’ questions, the former Massachusetts governor and private businessman took a dig at Perry, who drove media coverage this weekend with his splashy entrance into the presidential race, and most of the rest of the field of Republican White House hopefuls.
“I think understanding how the economy works by having worked in the real economy is finally essential in the White House and I hope people recognize that,” said Romney.
“I respect the other people in this race but I think the only other person that has that kind of extensive private sector experience besides me in the Republican race is Herman Cain, and I respect Herman Cain but I also think it’s helpful to have that government experience that I’ve had,” Romney said.
Romney has repeatedly faulted President Barack Obama for failing to understand how private business works, and he pivoted to apply that criticism to the Texas governor. Perry has essentially been a career politician, serving 11 years in the Governor’s mansion and as Lt. Governor to then-Gov. George W. Bush before that.
“I’ve learned how the economy works and I believe that skill is what the nation is looking for,” Romney said, continuing his strategy of highlighting his business credentials in a race that will hinge on the economic slump.
This is a theme that Republicans have hit on many times in the past, but I’m not sure it’s really a good argument. There are significant differences between running a government and running a private business (especially the type of private business that Romney ran), and while it’s potentially a point in one’s favor to have real-world business experience, the idea that government should be “run like a business” is one of those easy sound bites that doesn’t really apply in the real world. In the business world, the CEO has far more authority over the operations of the business than the President does over the government.
President Bush Business Favors - Bookshelf
President George W. Bush's influence over bureaucracy and policy, extraordinary times, extraordinary powers
Running Government as a Business As has been stated throughout this volume, President Bush has tried to employ a business approach to the functions of ...Business week
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In most ways, George W. Bush's economic policies please this group, especially his tax cuts that favor the wealthy and his pro-business policies. ...The Iron Triangle, Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group
Just how much business has George W. Bush done with the Carlyle group? ... over is another way of giving free money to a politician in return for a favor. ...Inside U.S. trade
Without concrete indications of a Doha round deal, President Bush is also likely to do ... 3 1 speech, Bush implied he favors an across-the-board fast-track ...Daily Data Directory
Bush favours outsourcing - Rediff.com Business
The US President also favours easy access for Indian students to American universities and schools. | Bush favours outsourcing
Privately, Bush Says He Favors Citizenship
WASHINGTON -- President Bush generally favors plans to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance at U.S. citizenship without leaving the country, ...
George W. Bush: Biography from Answers.com
George W. Bush , U.S. President Born: 6 July 1946 Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut Best Known As: President of the United States, 2001-2009 George W
Bush favors tax breaks for economy - USATODAY.com
President Bush told congressional leaders privately on Thursday he favors personal income tax rebates and tax breaks for businesses to help avert a ...
Don't Do Me Any Favors, Mr. President
Small business owners like me appear in almost every speech that President Bush makes ... Instead, President Bush has pushed through massive tax cuts, which gave my ...