海角大神

The Monitor sent reporters to baseball stadiums to ask people to take part in another national pastime 鈥� assessing a sitting president. Here are their critiques of Barack Obama's first months in office.

Fenway Park / Boston

RANDY LOOK, a retired high school physics teacher from Bowdoinham, Maine:

鈥淗e鈥檚 optimistic. He鈥檚 got charisma. He appears willing to say when he screws up. [He鈥檚 thoughtful], and would have moved faster if Republicans hadn鈥檛 been blocking the stimulus package. We are going to have alternative energy and a solid education plan. I think he has about a 75 percent chance of having about 75 percent of things happen.鈥�

DAVID LITTLEFIELD, owner of the 'sausage guy' cart:

鈥淚 think he鈥檚 doing great, given all the things that are going on 鈥� war, economy, the state of affairs left behind for him to deal with. I hope that he will make the country a more equitable system. Everyone should be able to make as much money as they want to but should [also] bring people up with them and not use people to get there. There hasn鈥檛 been a rising tide for all boats for a few years now.

He may have had some youthful faux pas, but the country needs to see a White House with a swing set in the back and a young family concerned about them.鈥�

SHARON WALSH, office manager, Watertown, Mass.:

He鈥檚 running our great-grandchildren into the ground with his tax policies.
I鈥檝e worked since I was 14, and I don鈥檛 want someone telling me I should share my wealth.

I鈥檓 waiting to see what he does in Iraq. We have to do a pullout strategically or our kids will have died for nothing.鈥�

Angel stadium / Anaheim, Calif.

ED and LILL GRABOWSKI, retirees who own a commercial building:

ED: 鈥淲ith the stimulus package and the bailouts he鈥檚 given, there鈥檚 going to be so much money owed by our kids and our grandkids.鈥�
LILL: 鈥淣ationalization is socialism. GM failed years ago. And they should fail now.鈥�

MICHAEL ENGLERT, school administrator:

鈥淢y primary concern is the amount of money being spent, that we don鈥檛 have, by way of bailouts. I believe that one of the things a bad economy does is weed out either those individuals or businesses that aren鈥檛 doing their job well.鈥�

CAROL JACOBS, retiree:

鈥淗e may be doing too much. Because he鈥檚 taken on so many things that need to be fixed, it鈥檚 hard to focus on just one thing.鈥�

RODNEY GARLAND, driver of a hazardous-waste truck:

鈥淚 give him 鈥� credit [for] trying something [on the economy]. I鈥檓 not going to knock him about that. I鈥檇 rather he tried than not do anything.鈥�

KAUFFMAN stadium / Kansas city, MO.

FRANK WILLIAMS, emergency medical technician:

鈥漈he people that he鈥檚 got in his cabinet 鈥� to me, he鈥檚 picked A-plus people.... But I want to see results. He鈥檚 got a lot of good ideas. I just hope they actually pan out.鈥�
PATSY HART, manager of a Catholic church in Omaha, Neb.:

He鈥檚 got so many fingers in the pie right now that I鈥檓 not sure he really knows how things are going, but he seems very confident. And I like the fact that he made it over to Iraq to see the troops. I like the fact that Michelle is very supportive of the military, since we鈥檙e retired military. With all the negativity, people have to give him a chance. Why shoot him down when he hasn鈥檛 had a chance to even do anything?
CARLOTTA PARHAM, accountant, Oklahoma City, Okla.:

鈥淚 would like to see him be a little more aggressive with the people in the banks and Wall Street, but I think he鈥檚 taking his time and thinking about what he鈥檚 doing.鈥�
鈥淥f course, I think the fact that he鈥檚 bringing our troops home is a good thing. As a mom with young men who might have to go overseas and fight, I think the fact that he鈥檚 taken under consideration bringing those kids home is a good thing.鈥�