President Barack Obama?s scorecard for 2011 is a study in extremes: stunning foreign policy achievements matched by considerable domestic defeats.
The president oversaw the killing of Osama bin Laden, wound down the war in Iraq and helped topple a dictator in Libya. But his successes abroad couldn?t help him back home, where Congress largely blocked his agenda and a lethargic economy drove two-thirds of Americans in many polls to say the country is headed in the wrong direction.
Continue ReadingWith Washington nearing a legislative standstill as the 2012 presidential campaign ramps up, the focus of this White House over the next year will be modest: protecting and implementing what Obama has already achieved and pressing Congress to act on his jobs measures.
Stephanie Cutter, a deputy senior adviser to the president who departed the White House last month to work on Obama?s campaign, sat down for an interview with POLITICO to discuss the administration?s successes, setbacks and surprises over the past year.
It was a tough year for the president, but let?s start on the positive side of the ledger. What would you point to as the administration?s top policy achievements?
He kept his promise on Iraq. By the end of the year, American troops will be out of Iraq.
We doubled fuel-economy standards, which is a historic accomplishment ? the largest single reduction in oil imports in history. ... [and] which haven?t been touched for 20 years. Not only does that save consumers thousands of dollars in fuel costs, it?s a significant decrease in greenhouse gases and it decreases our import of foreign oil.
We achieved historic trade agreements. South Korea alone will have more of an impact than nine past trade agreements. It?s been a long time since America has been able to put some of these things in place, and, as the president says, he wants to see Fords and Chryslers sold over in South Korea. I think the American people are soon going to see that.
The killing of Osama bin Laden and other key leaders is a major accomplishment of this president. ... He took some risks. Had the raid on the bin Laden compound gone badly, it would have been a huge political problem for this president, but he stuck to it, remained focused and ultimately we got him.
When we announced that we were sending troops over to Libya as part of a NATO alliance, the president received a tremendous amount of criticism, particularly from Congress and from some conservative foreign policy experts. This is another example of the president persevering, sticking to his strategy, pursuing what he believes is right, albeit not popular, and we achieved our goals.
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