Try, Try Again

Obama Finds Lesson in Malia's Bad Grade

Goes off the script in WI education speech.

The day after election losses for his party, President Barack Obama left Washington to speak before a kinder, gentler crowd: a group of Wisconsin schoolchildren, one of them a little boy with "OBAMA" shaved into his hair. The president was there to speak about a bipartisan education initiative, but felt the need to refresh the big, unrelated problems facing the country. (Even the Education secretary introduced him as a man dedicated to education "in spite of two wars" and a "really, really tough economy.") Perhaps to soothe his supporters' concerns that his presidency is in trouble, Obama reminded the audience of his successes, saying that Election Day '08 was “a day of hope, it was a day of possibility, but it was also a sobering one" because of the troubles the country faced. Now, he's dealing with "the rescue part" of his job. Obama finally deviated from his script, telling of how his daughter Malia learned to try, try again—to learn science. Her scores had faltered, but she just earned a 95 on a test. Obama said his daughter had learned not to "slack off" and to want success for herself—perhaps a lesson for dejected Democrats.