A Wall Street Journal poll on Wednesday found that 51 per cent of Americans believe Obama has devoted too little attention to the economy, and 44 per cent think he has spent too much time on health care.
Obama turned towards foreign policy only towards the end of an address dominated by economic challenges, warning Iran would face “growing consequences” if it did not halt its nuclear program.
The president also promised to redirect $US30 billion ($A33.56 billion) from a Wall Street bailout fund to help small businesses still reeling from the crisis.
He said that North Korea was growing ever more isolated as a result of its pursuit of nuclear arms.
“They should be decided by the American people, and that’s why I’m urging Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps to right this wrong.”
Obama’s ambitious reform agenda took a huge hit when Republicans seized a Senate seat in liberal Massachusetts last week, and the president is under intense pressure to show leadership and to restore his authority.
Given the poisoned political climate in the run-up to mid-term congressional polls in November, and some panic in Obama’s Democratic Party, prospects for Obama’s laundry list of initiatives look uncertain.
“And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed, but the devastation remains,” he said.
Obama vowed that he would not “walk away” from his stalled effort to pass comprehensive health care reform and said his administration’s early actions last year had staved off a repeat of the 1930s Great Depression.
One year into his presidency, Obama’s political brand seems to have lost its lustre, as has the notion that a fresh face with new ideas could steer the US ship of state in a new direction.
Obama also hit out at the corrosive influence of lobbyists on Washington’s poisoned politics, and condemned a Supreme Court decision lifting curbs on corporations openly backing candidates in elections.
“I don’t think American elections should be bankrolled by America’s most powerful interests, and worse,ugg store uk, by foreign entities.
US President Barack Obama has vowed to make job creation his top priority in 2010, in a bid to restore America’s faith in his change crusade after a first year in office soured by economic misery.
He said he would encourage small businesses to invest in the work force, announcing more stimulus money for job-rich infrastructure projects and tout his clean energy and green economy initiatives.