He has 18 months left to fulfill his “Yes we can” agenda, but President Obama is frustratingly finding that his supporters have already forgotten what he’s done and even think he’s an “idiot” for not making good on his promise to fix Washington.
In a candid fundraising speech at actor Tyler Perry’s Santa Monica, Calif., home Thursday night, the president expressed his own frustration at not scoring more wins in his two terms, but also aired distress at how quickly some of have forgotten his achievements.
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“I got a letter a while back from a gentleman living in Colorado, and clearly an intelligent guy, and he had taken a lot of time to write this letter. And he said, you know, I voted for you twice, but I’m feeling disillusioned,'” Obama said.
“And I get letters, people say, ‘You are an idiot,’ and here’s what you didn’t do, and here’s the program that is terrible, and all kinds of stuff. But this gentleman, he said, I voted for you twice but I’m deeply disappointed. And it went on and on, chronicling all the things that hadn’t gotten done,” added Obama.
President Obama leaving Air Force One in Los Angeles to attend fundraisers. AP Photo
While he didn’t detail the writer’s frustrations, Obama, who previously noted how the economy has come back, jobs are growing and the future looks brighter, said “he seemed to have forgotten everything that had happened and how he had benefitted.”
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The president told Democratic donors that writer’s angst was probably directed at Washington’s division and his inability to unite the parties.
“The core I think of his concern, the core of his complaint was that he thought that when I got to Washington I could bring people together and make them work more effectively,” he said. “And on that issue, I had to tell him, you’re right. I am frustrated, and you have every right to be frustrated, because Congress doesn’t work the way it should.”
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But not for lack of trying, even though he senses Americans don’t think he has.
“Sometimes I feel like people forgot the essence of my pledge when I ran for president. What I promised — I said to people, I said, I am not a perfect man I will not be a perfect president, but I promise you I will wake up every single day and I will go to bed every single night thinking about how to make sure that ordinary Americans have a chance. And I will fight as hard as I can, and I’ll be as honest and straightforward as I can about what I believe can open up the doors of opportunity to everybody. That pledge I’ve kept,” said the president.
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Frustrations aside, the president said that he still plans big things and revived his call for supporters to stand behind him and help.
“If we keep that faith and fight off cynicism, then 20 years from now, 50 years from now, 100 years from now, people are going to say, okay, they ran the good race and we’re further along and America is better and more just, and opportunity is more real for more people,” the president concluded.
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Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
Obama complains to Hollywood donors in White House on LockerDome
