Rhode Islanders Grade President Obama

Rhode Islanders Grade President Obama

As President Obama prepares to deliver his State of the Union address tonight, GoLocalProv asked Rhode Islanders across the spectrum—from business and politics to arts and education—to grade his performance over the past few years.

Stephanie Culhane, Cranston School Committee — Grade: B-
“I’m not entirely feeling confident with his confidence in some of the decisions he’s made,” Culhane told GoLocalProv. “The stimulus money was good. Do we know that it really stimulated the economy? I think the jury’s still out.” As for education, she’s not going to give him a grade until he makes a decision on what to do about No Child Left Behind, which is expiring. As for Obama’s Race to the Top program—which could bring as much as $75 million to Rhode Island schools—she says it remains to be seen exactly how the money will be spent. “I know that he wants to see reform,” Culhane said. “I don’t feel he’s taken any real steps to make it happen.”

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Alexander Lataille, Recent College Graduate — Grade: Solid B
Given that he’s currently unemployed, Lataille, 23, is grateful for the health reform bill. Still, he isn’t happy with how it worked out. “As much as it helped me, I think the health care thing was too polarizing too quickly. I think it might have been better to push it off,” said this Obama voter. He doesn’t blame Obama for the economy. “He can’t just get me a job,” Lataille said. “I wouldn’t knock him points for that.” His biggest problem with Obama? “He has become a polarizing character and he came in on a slate of unification,” Lataille said.

Saul Kaplan, Founder and Chief Catalyst, the Business Innovation Factory — Grade Is Improving “I think President Obama has his pivot on—I think President Obama is definitely pivoting as he rounds the corner,” Kaplan said. “I think he should have focused on the economy sooner, but I’m glad he’s focused on the economy now.” Kaplan said he is “cautiously optimistic” now that Obama is reaching out to the business community and hiring more business executives on the White House team. He says Obama will succeed if he puts innovation and entrepreneurship at the center of his economic plan.

Don Grebien, Mayor of Pawtucket — No grade, instead a homework assignment
As we are a new administration, I will leave it to others to grade President Obama on his first two years in office. But I don’t mind, if I may, giving him a homework “assignment.” Going forward, what urban core communities like Pawtucket need to see is a greater emphasis on job creation and a reduction of unfunded federal mandates. I would also like to see follow-through on quality education issues such as “Race to the Top” so that the federal dollars go more directly to the communities, like ours, that need the help the most. And, like mayors everywhere, I will keep my marking pen handy.

David Salvatore, Providence City Councilman — No Grade
The newly inaugurated councilman says the number one priority right now has to be fiscal and economic issues. “Based on the conversations I’m having in Providence, it’s not happening fast enough,” Salvatore said. He added: “At this point next year I would love to have this conversation. If the Rhode Island unemployment rate is still hovering at 12 percent I could probably give you a solid grade.” Salvatore says the solution rests in good ideas, from both government and the private sector.

Meghan Grady, Democratic activist and former President of the Rhode Island Young Democrats — Grade: A- In challenging times, President Obama has helped make several historic changes. The passage of Health Care Reform and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the creation of the Consumer Protection Agency, and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell were all accomplished within the first two years of his administration and will be remembered as turning points in United States history.

Kate Brock, Executive Director of Ocean State Action — Grade: C+
President Obama is no doubt on an upswing with the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the passage of the 9/11 First Responders Bill, extending unemployment benefits, and his moving call for civility in response to the tragic Arizona shooting; however, he is not the progressive champion that many of us hoped for when we voted for him in 2008. While the President finally secured passage of the federal health care bill, he failed to deliver on the public option that is critical to containing unsustainable health care costs. And the list goes on: the Dream Act, the Climate Bill, ending Bush’s foreign policy and pulling our troops out of Afghanistan, closing Gitmo, the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, job creation programs, replacing the Clinton economic team. Governing is messy, difficult and fraught with competing interest, but we elected President Obama to be a champion, to push, and to change minds. I hold him to a high standard because I believe he can and must do better.

Travis Rowley, Chairman of the Young Republicans — Grade: A+ for Predator Drone Attacks
In contrast to typical progressive speak, including that of candidate Obama himself, President Obama has actually ordered drone attacks on Muslim combatants to a greater extent than President Bush—revealing once again that, once in office, Democrats are often forced to deal with reality and start acting like Republicans.

David Segal, former Democratic Congressional candidate — No Grade
He's just way too willing to equivocate. Compromise in Washington too frequently means drawing a middle point between the positions of the two parties, both far too influenced by the wants of corporations and the super-wealthy. That means, for instance, that the public option gets left out of health care reform, even though it was popular in its own right, and its inclusion made Americans like the bill more. He's been a big disappointment on the wars. The stimulus wasn't good enough -- didn't replace enough absent demand. I think he deserves credit for fighting hard for the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, but financial reform should've gone further and solved the problem of too-big-to-fail. A little more passion and a more populist stance on economic policy would do right by the country and improve his re-election chances.

Rich Holtzman, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Bryant University — Grade: B
The most difficult part of grading presidential performance is determining the evaluation criteria. What should the president be judged on: crisis management, legislative success, public approval, midterm election results? While Obama has succeeded in some of these areas, he has clearly failed in others. He inherited massive policy challenges (the Great Recession, two wars, etc.), which he has largely been successful in addressing, considering that things have not gotten worse.

But until his recent speech in Tucson, he has failed to connect with the people and communicate a vision that Americans can rally around. Obama has been quite moderate in the legislative arena and has signed a large number of historically-significant bills into law. But in doing so, he has lost supporters on the left and has made intense enemies on the right. Obama's grade was saved, I would argue, by his performance since the midterm elections. The lame-duck session was incredibly productive and he has since seemed to gain momentum and public support. The State of the Union offers an opportunity for him to capitalize on these positive developments.

Raymond Fogarty, Director of the John H. Chafee Center for International Business at Bryant University — No Grade “After two years, the message we’re hearing is that he is going to be supporting the business community,” Fogarty said. “I think that the politics are in the right place.” He said he’s especially excited about a new initiative Obama has launched to help American manufacturers compete in the global marketplace and double U.S. exports over the next five years—and he is counting on Obama to bring it up in his speech tonight. He says he can’t give Obama a grade because Washington as a whole has not been working. “I’m frustrated with both—whether liberal or conservative, Democrat of Republican,” he said. Both sides, he says, have not been working together for the country.

Sue Stenhouse, former Director of Community Relations and Emergency Preparedness for Governor Carcieri — Grade: Incomplete After two years, Stenhouse says it’s still too early to give Obama a grade—especially now that the GOP has taken control of the U.S. House. “He had very ambitious goals for his first term. He’s gone through the wave, if you will, which I think happens to a lot of people who get into office,” said Stenhouse, who is also a former Warwick city councilwoman. “After a time, there’s a realization that the best answers come in compromise.”

Tom Sgouros, AS220 — ‘Trying to put it all in a single grade is silly’
You can count me among the people disappointed with Obama’s first two years, even if he had some dramatic successes in the past year. Getting the health care bill through a recalcitrant Senate was an important victory, even if it left a lot of work to be done, and the late-innings advances of the lame duck session were gratifying. But his economic policy seems to be created only for the convenience of the very people who created the financial crisis we’re suffering through and there is still no plan for dealing with the festering foreclosure catastrophe. His nearly immediate capitulation on both cap and trade and the Employee Free Choice Act was a disgraceful snub to both the environmental and labor movements that elected him.

On top of that, we’re still pursuing some of the worst of the Bush policies: we’re fighting two wars, there are prisoners at Guantanamo we have no plan for, we are engaged in more energetic and intrusive domestic surveillance than ever before, and we’ve doubled down on some very destructive education policy choices. Congress shares some of the blame, but many of these issues, like education, foreclosures, and Justice Department surveillance and trial policies, are purely in the executive branch bailiwick. But this is a complicated story. Trying to put it all in a single grade is silly. Do you know we don’t even do that for first graders any more?

Andy Cutler, Communications Designer — Grade: Solid B
He entered his office with a mandate from the American people to make large-scale systemic changes to our healthcare system, etc.; he inherited a horrific economy from his predecessor and had to spend an inordinate amount of time digging us out of an “economic hole” the likes of which this generation of Americans have never seen (not to mention two wars); and has been battling an vengeful opposition party, representing the interests of the wealthiest individuals and corporations in the U.S. and repositioning themselves through another “new” political party (Tea Party) using some of the most hostile rhetoric (with violent undertones) reminiscent of the civil rights era of the 60s.

Despite all of those issues, the reality is that he has pushed for change in the light of issues and continues to do so. Being a first-term President he is also learning on the job the importance of engaging and inspiring the electorate post his election win; reminding us that running for office and serving are two completely different things. My advice to him would to be do a full-court press, day in and day out shining light on those who only serve to criticize rather to serve the American people.

Bryan Principe, Providence City Councilman — Grade: B for Effort
“I think what ends up happening is the incumbent gets the fame or blame depending on what’s happening. Given how bad things are I think people would give him a bad grade,” the newly inaugurated councilman said. “Could he do more? Yes. Has he dropped the ball? No. Is he doing his best? I do believe he is doing his best.” Principe hopes that Rhode Island can get out of the economy cycle it’s been in for the last few years—leading in recession, lagging in recovery. And, he’s confident that a robust economic development program in Providence will be key. “If that happens, Providence will lead Rhode Island and Rhode Island’s cycle will be broken. Providence will be the engine that drives the state. As goes Providence, so goes the state,” he said.

Stephen Wicken, Doctoral candidate in history at Brown University — Grade: B, but an A with Brown’s grade inflation
After the incredible groundswell of optimism among young progressives that accompanied Obama's election, almost any practical agenda would have seemed disappointing. Consider that he inherited a country on the brink of economic depression, mired in two unwinnable wars and riven by political factionalism; however, the list of achievements is impressive. On the economy and health care he’s done as well as could be expected, even if some of us would have liked him to be more forceful. He’s accomplished some very important things on education—particularly in reforming student loans—and civil rights, especially in repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The major place for improvement, I think, is in communication: in failing to elucidate his health care plan clearly, he allowed the Republicans to twist his agenda into absurd shapes. I give him a B thus far. With the grade inflation at Brown, however, he’d get an A. (Editor’s Note: Wicken is a British native, who’s lived in the United State for six years.)