Opinion: Obama news conference: Iraqi political system ‘holding and functioning’
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A reporter asks whether the new spate of violence in Iraq affects the strategy for withdrawal. Obama replies that “though you have seen some spectacular bombings in Iraq that are legitimate cause for concern, civilian deaths remain low.”
He says the Iraqi political system is “holding and functioning.” He is confident in his team, he says, but “there’s some serious work to do on making sure that how they divvy up oil revenue is ultimately settled, what the provincial powers are and boundaries,” as well as relationships between all the fractious sectors of Iraq: the Kurds, Shia and Shiites.
The next question is about the party switch of Sen. Arlen Specter from Republican to Democrat. The president speaks very highly of Specter. “He has a record of legislative accomplishment as good as any member of the Senate. He has always had an independent streak.... He was very blunt in saying I couldn’t count on him to march in lockstep on many issues.’
He notes his own experience in the Senate: “I have been there. It turns out all the senators have very strong opinions, and I don’t think that’s going to change. I do think that having Arlen Specter in the Democratic caucus will liberate him on areas like healthcare.” The president notes that Specter’s vote on the Recovery Act “was a good example. He felt it was right to do and he was fiercely berated by his own party for taking what I considered a positive step. I am under no illusions that I am suddenly gonna have a rubber-stamp Senate.... I have Democrats that don’t agree with me on everything, and that’s the way it should be.’
Obama makes a pitch (yet again) for bipartisanship, but he also reminds people that he won the election and doesn’t think that he has “to go along with ideas that have been rejected by the American people in a historic election.”
And here’s the other thing, he says. “Things are never as good as they seem or as bad as they seem. I don’t believe in crystal balls. I do believe that our administration has taken steps that have restored the confidence of the American people that we are moving in the right direction.” The Republican penchant for opposing him “on every front” is probably not a good strategy on their part. Next up: Abortion
-- Robin Abcarian
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Obama responds to a question from the news media during a press conference on his 100th Day in Office from the East Room of the White House. EPA/Matthew Cavanaugh.
