by Kenneth T. Walsh

Realizing he has been a disappointment, the president focuses unemployment, Iraq, and Afghanistan pledges

More than anything else, President Obama's August 31 prime-time speech on Iraq was about keeping promises.

He wanted, first of all, to remind Americans, especially the antiwar left, that he has delivered on one of his major pledges from the 2008 campaign -- to remove U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of this summer. He didn't proclaim victory or declare "mission accomplished," as President Bush did so long ago, much to the chagrin of Americans who then saw the war drag on seemingly without end. In fact, Obama said that about 50,000 Americans will remain as allies and trainers, but that the Iraqis will do the fighting from now on. "I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended," Obama said. "Operation Iraqi Freedom is over, and the Iraqi people now have lead responsibility for the security of their country. Ending this war is not only in Iraq's interest; it is in our own." He said Americans "have met our responsibility. Now it is time to turn the page."

And a large part of turning that page means turning toward domestic issues, notably the economy and the unemployment rate, which stands at about 9.6 percent.

In what was probably the most politically important part of his address, he attempted to show that he is also trying his best to keep his campaign promise to improve the economy and that he has, at minimum, ended the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009. But he acknowledged that there's a long way to go. "Today, our most urgent task is to restore our economy and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work," he said, calling this "our central mission as a people and my central responsibility as president."

Since the economy is the No. 1 issue for most voters, they will certainly welcome this statement, even though Obama's credibility has taken a battering amid slow sales in real estate, lagging consumer spending, weak investment by companies that are hoarding their profits, and, of course, the high jobless rate. Asked what Americans are looking for from Obama, Democratic pollster Geoff Garin says, "People are only looking for jobs," and all other issues pale in comparison. Garin adds, "The very first thing is they want to know that he understands what they're going through. I don't think people are expecting miracles but I think they want to know that there's a plan and a strategy to get the country where it needs to be,"

Garin says one of the biggest challenge for the Democrats in this election cycle is to reduce the level of pessimism about the economy. In April, he notes, 45 percent of Americans thought things would get better; now, only 30 percent feel that way.

In another carefully worded passage, Obama said that after ordering a "surge" of 30,000 extra U.S. troops into Afghanistan, bringing the total to nearly 100,000, he is intent on starting to withdraw American forces next July, delivering on still another promise. He argued that this timetable will give the troops, working with the Kabul government, enough time to root out and destroy terrorists who mean America harm, but not lock the United States into many more years of involvement.

A big concern at the White House is whether the left wing of the Democratic Party will sit out the November elections, which might cost the Democrats control of the House and maybe the Senate. And the liberals still have many grievances that relate to the sky-high expectations that they had for Obama. Many are still fuming that Obama backed away from some of the liberal policies they wanted him to implement and expected him to pursue, such as including a "public option" for government-provided insurance as part of the massive healthcare bill enacted a few months ago and getting passage of a climate-change bill.

And while there is support for Obama's withdrawal from Iraq, a leading concern within this constituency is Afghanistan. The left is worried that Obama is blundering into an endless commitment that will sink the United States into a quagmire like Vietnam. So Obama emphasized that he will begin to phase out the U.S. commitment next year.

The bottom line is that Obama realizes he has been a disappointment for many Americans. He wants to start redeeming the promise that so many had for his presidency by showing that he hasn't forgotten the policies and the pledges that made him popular in the first place.

 

Available at Amazon.com:

The Feminine Mystique

The Disappearing Center: Engaged Citizens, Polarization, and American Democracy

The Virtues of Mendacity: On Lying in Politics

Bush on the Home Front: Domestic Policy Triumphs and Setbacks

The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House

 

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