100 days in, Obama warns of work to do

In a wide-ranging White House news conference that covered the flu pandemic, Taliban encroachment in Pakistan, and congressional politics, Obama touted his early accomplishments but warned that two of his biggest challenges - achieving healthcare and energy policy reform - still await him.

"The typical president, I think, has two or three big problems - we've got seven or eight big problems," Obama said at the news conference, his third in three months. "And so we've had to move very quickly, and I'm very proud of my team for the fact that we've been able to keep our commitments to the American people, to bring about change, while at the same time managing a whole host of issues that had come up that weren't necessarily envisioned a year and a half ago."

Addressing the most recent crisis to land on his desk - the swine flu pandemic, which has already been blamed for more than 150 deaths, including one in Texas - Obama reassured Americans last night that "their entire government" was taking precautions to control the dangers from the virus, and that it was not necessary to close the border with Mexico.

Such a move would be akin to "closing the barn door after the horses are out," Obama said, urging that people wash their hands frequently, cover their mouths when they sneeze, and stay home if ill.

The president called the potentially deadly virus the "H1N1 flu," answering complaints by Iowans Tom Vilsack, the Agriculture secretary, and Senator Tom Harkin, who have publicly worried that the reference to pigs would mistakenly lead people to stop eating pork, damaging the pork industry in the early presidential caucus state.

Obama reiterated his opposition to torture, saying it was not only wrong, but also that it did not succeed in getting information that could not have been obtained in other ways. But he declined to directly accuse his predecessor of sanctioning torture, saying only that he believed waterboarding - the simulated drowning procedure used during the Bush era - was torture and would no longer be permitted.

"Whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake," Obama said.

Obama also expressed cautious optimism about the survival of the auto industry, saying he is increasingly hopeful that Chrysler can resolve its fiscal woes, and that General Motors can also become a strong, competitive company. But while defending the financial assistance his administration gave the auto industry, Obama said he was eager to cut the cord with companies that received bailouts. .

"I don't want to run auto companies. I don't want to run banks. I've got two wars I've got to run," Obama said, drawing a few chuckles from the assembled media. "I've got more than enough to do."

Obama sought to downplay the significance of partisan politics, even though Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter's party switch this week left the Democrats on the verge of a filibuster-resistant majority in the Senate.

"I am under no illusion that suddenly I'm going to have a rubber stamp in the Senate," Obama said, noting Specter's independent streak. And as for "my Republican friends," Obama added, "My reaching out to them has been genuine."

On abortion, another issue that has caused deep rifts between the parties, Obama dialed down the rhetoric. While Obama said he believed in abortion rights, a cornerstone of Democratic platforms, he added that the Freedom of Choice Act, which would declare that the official policy of the United States is to preserve the right to abortion, was not the "highest legislative priority" for him.

"Abortion is a moral issue," he said. "I think that those who are pro-choice make a mistake when they - if they suggest - and I don't want to create straw men here, but I think there are some who suggest that this is simply an issue about women's freedom and that there's no other considerations. I think, look, this is an issue that people have to wrestle with and families and individual women have to wrestle with."

After 100 days in office, Obama has achieved many of his legislative goals - including the expansion of a children's healthcare program, a $787 billion economic stimulus package, a national service bill, and an equal pay law. He also has loosened restrictions on travel to Cuba, announced plans to close Guantanamo Bay prison, stop torture, and end the war in Iraq, all promises he made during his campaign.

As if to punctuate the 100-day marker - a traditional pulse-taking moment that Obama's senior aides had dismissed as a "Hallmark holiday," despite scheduling events to commemorate it - Congress gave Obama a legislative victory yesterday. The House and Senate approved a $3.55 trillion budget blueprint that not only reflects Obama's tax and spending priorities, but also protects his promised healthcare overhaul from procedural maneuvers that could kill it.

Nonetheless, the budget, like the earlier stimulus bill, passed on a party-line vote. And while the budget outline says that a healthcare bill cannot be filibustered, meaning it would need just a simple majority of Senate votes to pass, negotiators say a major health overhaul would need strong bipartisan support to survive in what are expected to be difficult early years of a new system. "If this is going to work, it's going to take a decade," said Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Republican involved in the healthcare talks. If the measure is passed only along party lines, it would be hard for supporters to sustain the public support and financing the plan may need in its early stages, he added.

Obama acknowledged last night that achieving his legislative agenda was tougher than he imagined, in part because Washington was resistant to the change that was the theme of his campaign.

I am "sobered by the fact that change in Washington comes slowly," Obama said when asked what had troubled him most during his young presidency. "There is still a certain quotient of political posturing and bickering that takes place, even when we're in the middle of really big crises."