Obama tells WESH: ‘This is a great country that had gotten a little soft’
President Barack Obama arrives for a back-to-school speech Wednesday in Washington. Photo credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Central Florida will see a lot of Barack Obama as the president runs for election next year, he tells WESH-Channel 2 anchor Jim Payne.
“The chances of me visiting the area are going to be very high,” Obama said. “First of all, I love coming down. I think the chances of me being down there in January or February are especially high, ’cause I’ll be looking for some sunshine at that point.”
Payne had a little more than seven minutes for the interview at the White House, WESH news director Bob Longo said. The chat, upbeat and surprisingly personal, was an exclusive for the Central Florida market.
“The president is acutely aware that if the job situation and the economy don’t turn around soon that his administration may be doomed,” Payne said in introducing a segment. “He also is aware of his declining approval ratings. That’s why he’s pushing the American Jobs Act, his plan to put 1.9 million Americans back to work.”
In the interview, Payne talked about his two sons, ages 19 and 23. The WESH anchor revealed that his older son recently moved home, and Payne said he is worried his children won’t have the same opportunities he enjoyed as a young man.
President Obama said he shared that concern. “This is the worst financial crisis and recession that has existed in our lifetimes,” Obama said. “So it’s challenging for young people who are coming up in the midst of those kind of circumstances.”
But Obama stressed that country needs to revamp its education system, improve its infrastructure and invest in science and technology.
“This is a great country that had gotten a little soft, and we didn’t have that same competitive edge that we needed over the last couple of decades,” Obama told Payne. “We need to get back on track, but I still wouldn’t trade our position with any countries on Earth. We still have the best universities, best scientists and best workers in the world. We still have the most dynamic economic system in the world. So we just need to bring those things together.”
Obama added that young people — “like your sons” — give him confidence “that they’re going to help figure this out and make sure that we maintain our No. 1 status.”
In more of the interview that aired at 6, Obama said it was a mistake for Florida Gov. Rick Scott to say no to federal money to high-speed rail from Orlando to Tampa. Obama said the project had support from the business community and Republican legislators.
“Florida stood to make big gains and to create a lot of jobs,” Obama said. “It was a mistake to turn that money down because there were a lot of other states that were anxious to pick it up.”
Payne asked about job losses in the space program and what’s ahead. Obama said the space program is in transition.
“I am absolutely committed to manned space flight,” Obama said. “What we’re trying to do is figure out is how we can move as many of the folks — the engineers, the scientists, the technicians who have expertise — into these new projects to develop that next stage of human space flight.”