In a blunt election prescription for his own skittish party, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday implored Democratic leaders to swing big, be honest with an angry American public and expose Republican obstructionism all they can.
“We still have to lead,” Obama told Democratic senators in a pep talk that unfolded on live TV.
That line alone revealed how much the political dynamic has changed in just two weeks, as Senate Democrats were stunned to see their voting numbers slip from 60 to 59 in a special Massachusetts election to replace the late Edward Kennedy. That one vote cost them the muscle to overcome Republican stalling tactics, forcing the president to adapt in hopes of salvaging this year and his agenda.
His advice: Get results, and this November’s elections will work out fine.
The Democrats’ loss of the seat in Massachusetts dealt a severe blow to Obama and the party, forcing them to scale back some of their legislative objectives, such as remaking the US healthcare system. Democrats now want to focus on getting jobs for Americans and other economic issues that resonate with voters in an attempt to avoid big losses and possibly control of Congress in November polls.
Let policy be our politics, Obama told the senators, and make sure everyone knows about petty acts by the opposition.
Obama’s mission is to stiffen the resolve of his own party as he pursues an agenda that is consistent — creating jobs, overhauling health insurance, regulating Wall Street — yet is also cast in more personal, real-life terms.
Obama said lawmakers should do more business in the public eye; tell voters honestly that some problems will take a long time to solve; stop listening to cable TV shows that obsess about Washington’s politics; make a case for healthcare reform without getting bogged down by insider details; and call out Republicans when gamesmanship holds up votes.
The president said he was still confident the public would re-elect leaders who do the right thing and explain it well.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
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Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
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