WASHINGTON — His approval ratings are largely
stagnant and his prospects for re-election in doubt. But President
Barack Obama says it’s all to be expected.
“We’ve gone through an incredibly difficult time in
this country. And I would be surprised if the American people felt
satisfied right now,” Obama told CBS’ Steve Kroft in an interview that
aired Sunday on “60 Minutes.” “They shouldn’t feel satisfied. We’ve got a
lot more work to do in order to get this country and the economy moving
in a way that benefits everybody, as opposed to just a few.”
Obama compared himself to a ship captain in stormy waters.
“No matter how well we’re steering the ship, if the
boat’s rocking back and forth and people are getting sick and, you know,
they’re being buffeted by the winds and the rain … if you’re asking,
‘Are you enjoying the ride right now?’ folks are going to say, ‘No.’ ”
Obama said. “People are going to say, ‘You know what? A good captain
would have had us in some smooth waters and sunny skies at this point.’
And I don’t control the weather.”
Kroft interviewed the president twice last week,
first after a speech in Osawatomie, Kan., that was viewed as laying the
groundwork for his re-election campaign. Obama spoke about the growing
income inequality in America, and called it a “make-or-break moment” for
the middle class.
Kroft noted the criticism that Obama is engaging in class warfare and calling for a “redistribution of wealth.”
“The problem is, is that our politics has gotten to
the point where we can’t have an honest conversation about the greatest
income inequality since the 1920s, and we can’t have an honest
conversation about the irresponsibility that resulted in the worst
financial crisis since the Great Depression, without somebody saying
that somehow we’re being divisive,” Obama said. “No, we’re being honest
about what happened, and we’ve got to be honest about how we move
forward.”
A CBS/New York Times poll released this weekend found
that 54 percent of Americans think Obama doesn’t deserve another term.
Kroft asked Obama to make his case.
He rattled off a familiar list, starting with “saving
this country from a Great Depression” and rescuing the auto industry.
He added health care reform, financial reforms, ending “don’t ask, don’t
tell” so that gays could serve openly in the military, and “decimating”
al-Qaida, including the death of Osama bin Laden.
“But you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do,” he said.
The president said he isn’t worried about his poll numbers at this point and cited his vice president’s reasoning.
“I’m being judged against the ideal. And, you know,
Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, ‘Don’t judge me against the
Almighty, judge me against the alternative.’ ”
Asked about the Republican race, Obama said it
wouldn’t matter who the nominee was because all were expressing the same
core philosophy. He thinks Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich “will be going
at it for awhile.”
Kroft recalled Obama’s speech announcing his candidacy, then asked if he’d promised more than he could deliver.
“I didn’t overpromise. And I didn’t underestimate how
tough this was going to be,” he said. “It was going to take more than a
year. It was going to take more than two years. It was going to take
more than one term. Probably takes more than one president. The one
thing I’ve prided myself on before I was president, and it turns out
that continues to be true as president: I’m a persistent son of a gun.”
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©2011 Tribune Co.
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