http://www.politico.com/blogs/politico-live/?hp=44Plouffe: ‘People trust this president’
By MACKENZIE WEINGER |
12/1/13 10:45 AM EST
Former Senior White House Adviser David Plouffe on Sunday said he believes President Barack Obama’s “numbers will recover” and that people “trust this president.”
“It’s been a tough patch,” Plouffe said on ABC’s “This Week.” “And it’s not just healthcare, you know, the shutdown affected everybody, confidence in government. But let’s fast forward to the State of the Union and the months after that: Health care working better, a lot of people signing up, economy continuing to strengthen, hopefully no Washington shutdowns.”
“I think the president’s numbers will recover, I think people’s confidence will recover,” he added. “And we need to push Congress to do immigration, to do the smart things to help the economy.”
But Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), also on the “This Week” panel, said the problems with Obamacare will continue to damage the president and his administration.
“The first impression here was terrible, and I think it will be an unfolding disaster for the president,” he said. “This thing is going to be an unmitigated political disaster for the president."
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), meanwhile, said he was more optimistic about the health care law.
“This website is technology,” he said. “It’s going to get better. It’s already better today.”
Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, however, said the president’s reputation has been seriously hurt by his claim that those who liked their health plans could keep them. Americans look at Obama and “think, ‘He’s no dummy,’” Noonan said. And “because he’s a smart guy, that means he deliberately misled us” to pass the law.
But, Plouffe said, “I think he spoke directly to this. And I think people accepted what he had to say. I think people trust this president. I think there’s been numbers all over the place. But I'm confident in a few months from now, those trust numbers are going to come up and his approval number will come up.”
