Obama Describes His Job As Cleaning An Inherited Mess
President Obama held a fundraiser in Miami on Monday night, where he gave a speech that attempted to reclaim the fervor from his constituents in 2008. “I didn’t run for president just to be president. It was never about me. It was about us,” he reminded the guests who paid a $10,000-per-ticket attendance fee. Barack Obama knows that the economy is the crucial obstacle in his path which he must overcome to earn voters’ trust and convince the American public that better circumstances lie ahead. The most significant aspect of the speech was the President’s attempt to overcome that very obstacle by emphasizing that the poor economy was never his to take credit for, claiming that “my job over these first two years has frankly been to clean up a big mess.” He continued by explaining that the success of his policies can be determined by what didn’t occur, rather than what did, maintaining, “We were able to make sure we yanked an economy out of what could have been a second Great Depression.” How did his administration prevent such dire circumstances? “We stabilized the financial system. We made sure that we ended one war and started putting another war on a path where we could start bring more troops home. We restored a sense around the world of what American values and ideals were all about. We had to address an auto industry that was on the verge of liquidation. We had to get the economy moving again and we had to get jobs created again,” Obama said.
Florida is a crucial state for the incumbent President’s chance at reelection. “If we win Florida again, it’s over,” Florida finance chairman, Kirk Wagar, promised the audience. He continued, “The president is worth it. There is no Barack Obama without you. There is no health care without you.” Recovery of Florida’s vote or not, convincing American citizens of his economic success remains one tall mountain to climb.
