"I'm Exhausted Of Defending You."
"Is This My New Reality?"
"I'm Exhausted Defending You" :Middle-class mother confronts Obama at meet-the-voters event"
President Barack Obama was left in no doubt as to the strength of ill-feeling among his most loyal supporters last night when he was openly attacked at a town hall meeting - with one woman telling him: "I’m exhausted defending you".
Staring intently at Mr Obama, Velma Hart told him she was ‘deeply disappointed’ and was losing patience waiting for him to deliver the change he promised.
In an impassioned rebuke the mother-of-two said she fears returning to the ‘hot dogs-and-beans era’ of her life because he is not helping the financially strapped middle class.
‘I'm a mother. I'm a wife. I'm an American veteran, and I'm one of your middle-class Americans. ‘And, quite frankly, "I'm exhausted", she said.
‘I'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now.’
Her admonishment of the president came as new poll revealed 35% of voters would prefer to have George W Bush in the White House instead of Mr Obama, in spite of his chequered record in office.
Mr Obama has faced falling popularity and rising disgruntlement as his presidency stalls amid the economic crisis and what some see as indecisive leadership.
In a series of televised town hall meetings with voters, he is attempting to reconnect with the public but during one such event in Washington, he was ambushed by the audience.
Mrs Hart, who has two teenage daughters, laid into him for failing to do enough for people like her.
‘I have two children in private school. The financial recession has taken an enormous toll on my family,’ she said.
‘My husband and I have joked for years that we thought we were well beyond the hot dogs-and-beans era of our lives. But, quite frankly, it is starting to knock on our door and ring true that that might be where we are headed again.’
Mr Obama told Mrs Hart, the chief financial officer for a war veterans group, that people like her were the ‘bedrock of America’ and they should be supported.
‘I understand your frustration,’ he said. ‘My goal is not to convince you that everything is where it ought to be. It's not.’
Mr Obama also came under attack from audience member Ted Brassfield, 30, a recent law graduate, who said the optimism of the 2008 election was ‘dying away’.
‘There aren't jobs out there right now,’ he said and asked: ‘Is the American dream dead for me?’ ‘Absolutely not,’ Mr Obama replied.
The clashes came as former US president Bill Clinton admitted that voters were angry with Mr Obama but urged them not to give up hope.
‘I would say, ‘I know a lot of people are mad, and a lot of people are tired. Apathetic. And I respect that. Because we're not yet out of the hole we've got in,’’ he said.
Referring to the forthcoming mid-term elections, in which the Democrats could lose control of Congress, he added: ‘Give us two more years. Don't go back to the policies that dug the hole…If we don't do better, you can vote against us all...Vote against us all if it's not better.’
The ABC News poll did find that 35% of voters want Mr Bush back but 52% said they would rather have Mr Obama in charge.
The president still has some way to go before he becomes unpopular as Mr Bush whose approval ratings fell as low as 23% en route to thelowest average second-term ratings in modern polling history.
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Sources: CNN, Daily Mail, The Hill, Youtube, Google Maps
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