President Obama walked to the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon.Doug Mills/The New York Times
Where Clinton Turned Right, Obama Plowed Ahead -- New York Times
WASHINGTON — When President Bill Clinton faced a Republican uprising and a nation that turned deeply skeptical about his agenda, he used the 1996 State of the Union address to declare that “the era of big government is over.”
That move to the middle — arguably more rhetoric than reality — stopped Newt Gingrich’s Republican Revolution in its tracks. So why did President Barack Obama go a different route on Wednesday night, giving little ground and declaring that the problem was not his agenda but a deficit of trust in government and of pragmatism? If there was a defining line in Mr. Obama’s speech, it might have been “Let’s try common sense,” to which he ad-libbed, “a novel concept.”
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MIDDLE EAST
Human Rights Watch rejects Hamas' claims on rockets.
Obama backs Israel, also sympathetic to Palestinians.
Iran faces consequences over nuclear program: Obama.
Iran Green Movement promising big February protests.
View from Mt. Doud: Saudi Arabia says offensive against Yemen rebels over.
International community pledges help for Yemen.
ASIA
Clinton in 'open, candid' Google talks with China.
Karzai says Afghanistan may need foreign troops for 15 years.
Sri Lanka President to dissolve Parliament for elections.
Tensions flare in crossfire between South Korea and North.
AFRICA
Egypt, Algeria cool tensions before soccer match.
Zimbabwe court rejects Sadc ruling to end farm seizures.
Nigerian Senate seeks clarification on President's absence.
Nigeria text messages 'fuelled Jos riots'.
Egypt's anxious Copts 'await next catastrophe'.
Amid worry, Guinea begins transition to democracy.
EUROPE
At Russia meeting, Putin and Medvedev tangle over democracy.
Davos 2010: Sarkozy calls for revamp of capitalism.
Britain awaits Blair testimony on Iraq.
Northern Ireland talks near collapse.
French court acquits Dominique de Villepin of slander and forgery.
AMERICAS
Venezuelan police fire tear gas at protesters.
Hundreds of stranded tourists rescued in Peru.
Big challenges as Haiti prepares to reopen schools.
Haiti pleads for better aid effort.
Honduran Zelaya flies into exile, ending crisis.
TERRORISM/THE LONG WAR
Al-Qaida group claims responsibility for Baghdad Hotel bombings.
White House defends use of war crime tribunals.
NY federal prosecutors pursue foreign cases aggressively.
Bloomberg flip-flops on New York KSM trial.
ECONOMY/FINANCE/BUSINESS
US Senate votes to confirm Bernanke.
Italian mobsters buck downturn, may target bourse.
Airlines suffered record drop in traffic in 2009: IATA.
Geithner, predecessor and Fed defend AIG payments.
Ford earns $2.7 Billion in 2009.
India vs. China: Whose economy is better?
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