It’s a goal that Obama readily concedes he has been unable to achieve during his two terms in the White House.
Advertisement
The White House recently posted a desultory answer to the petition that quotes Obama as saying that “We have to reduce the influence of money in our politics” – but doesn’t acknowledge the petition’s demand that Obama, not “we”, take specific action. It’s a country threatened by a “poisonous political climate that pushes people away from participating in public life”.
“I think trying to move forward and I hope that we do and I hope that it moves it ahead maybe where we can find common ground”, said Moffitt.
Obama didn’t accept responsibility for the rancorous language that has infected the 2016 campaign trail – including Donald Trump’s vulgar descriptions of his Republican opponents this week.
“We celebrate that President Obama is using his bully pulpit to call for expanded access to the voting booth and a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics”. “That the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better”.
Obama’s Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, an aide since Obama’s announcement, reflected on Obama’s vision for America nine years ago.
Wedging the political gap that’s widened over his years as president will definitely be easier said that done, which was evident during his speech in the legislator.
The address comes amid a historic state budget impasse in IL.
Nowhere is that divide felt more viscerally than where Obama began his legislative career.
Obama underscored that in Springfield. “The bond rating is the worst in the country”. We ignited the clean energy revolution. Obama said in kicking off his hope to become the first African-American U.S. commander in-chief.
But many IL lawmakers say times have changed since Obama left for Washington in 2005. It is one Obama has repeated throughout his presidency amid miserable relationships with congressional opposition and new levels of gridlock in Washington. “I was able to be part of that here, and yet couldn’t translate it the way I wanted into our politics in Washington”.
During the 2016 campaign, Sanders has questioned the progressive credentials of Obama and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. He told state lawmakers that partisanship makes people cynical and says “we gotta build a better politics”.
“We should change the way our districts are drawn”.
As for Springfield, the current mode of politics isn’t working, Beiser said. “You didn’t change any votes, ‘” Obama recalled.
Democrats and Republicans alike found things to cheer about, usually separately but occasionally together, in an hour-long Statehouse speech by President Barack Obama on February 10.
Obama chided both sides, however, and said he believed Republicans shared some of his values even if they disagreed on how to enact them. He said in order for politicians today to succeed and make progress, they need to stop calling each other “idiots and fascists”, and be willing to compromise. He said he just wants to get a state budget to fund desperately needed social problems. In his 2007 speech, Obama described a place with the opposite ideals of Washington, where he “learned to disagree without being disagreeable”.
Advertisement
Obama traveled to the IL capital earlier Wednesday. The difference in President Obama’s visit is that he will be the first president who has ever served in the General Assembly to also address them.
