ELKHART, Ind. — President Obama took his case for an $800 billion economic recovery package to one of the most distressed places in America on Monday as he opened a series of campaign-style events intended to press Congress to approve the plan by week’s end.
Wrapping himself in the mandate of his election last November, Mr. Obama sounded like a candidate all over again, scolding greedy Wall Street bankers and pointedly rejecting Republican critics for sticking with what he called a failed philosophy. At one point, he spoke about people with as many as five homes, which sounded like a reference to his opponent last fall, Senator John McCain.
“We can’t wait and see and hope for the best,” Mr. Obama told a packed high school gymnasium that sounded like an election rally. “We can’t posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us into this mess in the first place. That was what this election was all about. The American people rejected those ideas because they hadn’t worked. You didn’t send us to Washington because you were hoping for more of the same. You sent us there to change things.”
You can view Obama's remarks below:
And oh, one more tidbit from the folks at Gallup:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following has handled the government's efforts to pass an economic stimulus bill?
President Barack Obama
Approve 67%
Disapprove 25%
No Opinion 8%
The Republicans in Congress
Approve 31%
Disapprove 58%
No Opinion 11%
