NeverEndingMe
Literotica Guru
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- Jun 20, 2011
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the obama, "yes we can" -> not do a damn thing
When he ran for the presidency in 2008, Barack Obama sprinkled his campaign speeches with ambitious catchphrases such as “the fierce urgency of now” and “yes we can.”
Nowadays, as he gears up for his re-election campaign, prepares a much-anticipated address on the economy to Congress and confronts some of the worst polling numbers of his presidency, President Obama has been trotting out a stump speech with a far less lofty message for voters: You expected too much from me.
“When I ran in 2008, I think that a lot of folks believed we elect Obama and suddenly we’re going to fix politics in Washington,” the president told a group of wealthy donors Aug. 11 in New York City in one typical passage. “And then, after 2 years, it’s been tough and there have been setbacks. It turns out that there are a lot of bad habits that have been built up over time [in Washington], and we’re also a big, diverse country and not everybody agrees with me.”
Referring to deliriously happy supporters on election night 2008 in Chicago, the president told Democrats in Miami this summer, “I tried to warn people, I explained to them: This isn’t the end, this is just the beginning. We weren’t going to be able to do it in a day or a week or a year or maybe even not in one term.”
The president’s attempt to dampen expectations retroactively is calculated, given a national unemployment rate that remains above 9 percent after his $821 billion economic recovery program. But observers are struck by the oratorical downshift in the candidate who revved up so many audiences with powerful speeches three years ago.
President Obama greets Hector Sealey (center), safety director for Ft. Myer Construction Corporation, and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (right) after speaking at the White House on Aug. 31, 2011, to urge Congress to pass a federal highway bill. (Associated Press)
“It’s almost as if he’s moving in reverse,” said Stephen Hess, an analyst on the presidency at the Brookings Institution. “People usually get better at giving speeches, not worse.”
In 2008, Mr. Obama’s speeches “held tens of thousands spellbound,” Mr. Hess said. “But it’s very hard to find a very strong speech he’s given since he’s been in office.”

