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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: geode00 who wrote (78856)	1/19/2009 7:07:32 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 89467

Obama's Opportunity voices.washingtonpost.com by Chris Cillizza When Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th president tomorrow at noon, he will inherit a country in the midst of a financial crisis of seemingly limitless proportions, a nation seeking to come to grips with its proper role in the world, and a series of international conflicts from Iraq to Israel. All told, it represents the greatest political opportunity any president has had to fundamentally reshape the county at home and abroad in modern history. Why? Great crisis -- and it's hard to argue America is in anything but such a situation these days -- calls for great action, sweeping, elemental changes that in times of less turmoil would never pass muster. Obama clearly grasps this odd sort of mandate -- a message from the American people to do something, anything to change the direction of the country -- and sees himself in the mold of the most transformational presidents, most notably Abraham Lincoln. "We have kicked this can down the road," Obama said in an interview with Post editors and reporters last week. "We are now at the end of the road." That sense that urgent action is required commingles in Obama with a distinct confidence (his detractors describe it as arrogance) that he is the kind of person who can bend the political system -- and the history of partisan politics -- to his will in order to tackle massive problems ranging from the recent economic collapse to needed reforms in long-standing entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. "I set the tone," Obama said last week in response to a question about his Administration's ability to peacefully coexist despite a gaggle of oversized egos and a management structure that some have criticized as duplicative. "If the tone is set that we bring as much intellectual firepower to a problem...that we make decisions based on facts and evidence then people will adapt to that culture," the president-elect insisted. Recent polling suggests Obama will have the opportunity and, perhaps more importantly, the time to do big things. A Washington Post/ABC News survey found that not only were nearly three quarters (72 percent) confident that Obama's policies will help improve the economy but more than nine in ten (91 percent) said any real improvements would take more than a year. That data, which is similar to trends in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll as well as the new NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, suggests that Obama has effectively conveyed to voters the depth of the problems and the fact that there is no quick fix. Given all of those numbers, it clear that Obama will have some time in which he is given something of a pass by voters as he seeks to sort out the country's financial problems. He and his team are already moving quickly to take advantage of that pass -- a rarity in American politics -- going big with an economic stimulus plan that could cost between $825 and $1 trillion before all is said and done. The question that, as of today, is unanswerable is how long the American public will wait before they begin to sour on Obama in the event the economy doesn't turn around. While most Americans seem content to wait a year or more for large-scale economic change today, that may not be the case if unemployment rates continue to rise and more and more people find themselves out of work or fearful that they might soon be without a job. Politics is a fickle game. To date, Obama has played it as well as any politician could. And, he is putting down a big bet that the public's desire for change will overcome its hesitancy about seismic changes in the way government works in daily life. "I hope to model a way of interacting with people who are not like you and who don't agree with you that changes the temper of politics," said Obama. That's a huge task. But, out of great crisis comes great opportunity.

To: geode00 who wrote (78856)	1/22/2009 8:49:17 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 89467

Obama names envoys for Mideast and Afghanistan talkingpointsmemo.com By Caren Bohan Reuters North American News Service Jan 22, 2009 18:07 EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama named special envoys Thursday for the long-troubled Middle East and the violent Afghanistan-Pakistan region and promised U.S. help in ensuring a lasting truce in Gaza. Obama chose former Sen. George Mitchell as an envoy who will try to jump-start moribund Arab-Israeli peace talks. In a flurry of diplomatic activity in his first week in office, Obama also tapped former ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke to be the first-ever special U.S. envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan and related issues. Both the envoys have records of success in helping settle long-running violent conflicts -- Mitchell in Northern Ireland and Holbrooke in the Balkans. "We have no time to lose," said Obama, who introduced Mitchell and Holbrooke at an event with newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Mitchell will go to the Middle East to help ensure the durability of the ceasefire in Gaza, which was left devastated by a 22-day Israeli offensive against Hamas. Israeli said it launched the offensive in response to rocket attacks from the militant group. "It will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as Israel and its Arab neighbors," Obama said. NO DIRECT MENTION OF IRAN In discussing the Mideast issues, neither Obama nor Clinton mentioned Iran. But Obama seemed to allude to Iran when he said his administration wanted to signal to all countries in the region "that external support for terrorist organizations must stop." The Bush administration had accused Iran of supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, and in the past had linked Tehran to weapons and explosives smuggled to insurgents in Iraq. Obama said during the campaign he favored high-level engagement with Iran but since the election he has given no details on when that effort might start. Pressed on Iran during a briefing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs reiterated that Obama believes "We're going to have to engage our friends and our enemies in order to make our country safe and secure." Clinton said the United States had to restore its standing in the world. "We must be smarter about how we exercise our power," she said. Obama has ordered a full review of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, where he has pledged to boost troop strength, and told generals to take the first steps toward a pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq. He has pledged to shift the focus of the struggle against terrorism back onto Afghanistan and away from Iraq. Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda militants are believed to be hiding in the mountainous border region of Pakistan near Afghanistan. The day after his inauguration, Obama called Israeli and Arab leaders to commit himself to active engagement in the Mideast and to promise help consolidating the Gaza ceasefire. Mitchell, 75 and a Democrat, is best known for peacemaking efforts in Northern Ireland, but he also has experience in the Middle East and was appointed by former President Bill Clinton to find ways to halt Israeli-Palestinian violence. Mitchell's 2001 report called for Israelis to freeze construction of new settlements and for Palestinians to crack down on terrorism. Mitchell is the son of a Lebanese immigrant mother and a father of Irish descent. Mitchell said that from his experience working on the Northern Ireland issue, he "formed the conviction that there is no conflict that cannot be ended." Holbrooke, 67, said he had been given a "daunting assignment." Holbrooke gained prominence by brokering the Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia. Nabil Abu Rdainah, aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said he hoped the appointment of the new Mideast envoy would signal a shift in the U.S. approach toward the Arab-Israeli conflict. "We will deal with Obama's envoy and we hope he will work fast to implement the road map and the Arab peace initiative as well as international agreements and to implement Obama's change policy in order to bring justice and freedom to our people," he said. (Additional reporting by Ross Colvin in Washington and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; writing by Caren Bohan; Editing by Philip Barbara)