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Obama says 'midcourse corrections' to come at home
Seems like the midcourse correction's already here.[Al Arabiya] Followed by the politics of home, President Barack B.O.Obama on Sunday acknowledged that he must make some "midcourse corrections" if he is to win over a frustrated electorate and work with resurgent Republicans. On the second of the three days he is spending in India, Obama arrived in New Delhi on Sunday afternoon in the company of his wife, Michelle. Among his airport greeters were Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who apparently broke the normally rigid rules of protocol by making the trip to personally welcome Obama to the Indian capital. Earlier in the day while in Mumbai, Obama appeared before college students eager to question him. He told one that the midterm elections back home reflected the "right, obligation and duty" of the voters to express their unhappiness with the state of U.S. affairs by voting out many incumbents, the majority of whom are Democrats like Obama. The president himself wasn't on the ballot last week, but his party took a beating. Republicans won control of the House, eroded the Democratic majority in the Senate, made huge gains at the state level and broadly changed the political landscape as Obama begins looking ahead to his own re-election campaign in 2012. Not a pretty sight from this perspective... Obama said he will not change his determination to move America forward by handing out money to teachers' unions, infrastructure and clean energy despite mounting pressure in Washington to cut spending. But he said, without elaborating, that the election "requires me to make some midcourse corrections and adjustments." How those will play out over the next several months, Obama said, will depend on his talks with Republicans. His comments seemed to reflect a deeper acknowledgment of the need for change by the White House, but as he did at a news conference the day after the election, Obama stayed purposely vague on how he would reposition his agenda. The town hall with students, now a staple of Obama's foreign travel, was part of his outreach to this democracy of more than 1 billion people. India is an emerging power in Asia and an increasingly important partner to the U.S. on trade and security, in part because its rise offers a measure of balance to the growing strength of China. The president is in the midst of his lengthiest trip abroad as president, a 10-day journey across India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. He began Sunday by showing a softer side, chatting with students at another school and even dancing with them, albeit reluctantly, after his wife had eagerly done the same. Posted by: Fred 2010-11-09 |
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