海角大神

Americans at ballparks react to Obama's first 100 days

From Angel Stadium in southern California to Fenway Park in Boston, fans laud and lampoon the president's early initiatives.

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�