Obama Defends Presidency: ‘I Didn’t Say Yes I Can … I Said Yes We Can’

During a fundraiser in Santa Monica last night, President Obama defended his presidency, explaining to supporters why he hadn’t fixed the broken politics of Washington.

He referred to a letter from one of his critics complaining that he had failed to bring both political parties together and end partisan gridlock in Washington, as he had promised to do during his campaigns.

“I had to tell him, you’re right. I am frustrated, and you have every right to be frustrated, because Congress doesn’t work the way it should,” Obama said, asserting that many political leaders were “more interested in scoring political points than getting things done.”

Obama admitted his critics were right, that Washington D.C. was still broken, and he hadn’t been able to fix it.

“I told him, you’re right. It still is broken,” he said. “But I reminded him that when I ran in 2008, I, in fact, did not say I would fix it; I said we could fix it. I didn’t say, yes, I can; I said … ‘Yes We Can.’”

He encouraged all of his wealthy supporters to get involved in their communities to promote his policies and push for policy goals that they wanted to see — such as gun control and climate change.

“I hope what you leave with is that sense that the unfinished business we’ve got does not just depend on me, does not just depend on the next President we elect, does not just depend on any particular member of Congress — it depends on you,” he concluded.