Obama urges end to partisanship

Springfield ( Illinois), Feb. 11: Barack Obama returned on Wednesday to the city where his White House journey began, making the case for less fractious politics while admitting he had failed to narrow the partisan divide.

Making a nostalgialaden trip to his old stomping ground in Springfield, Illinois, Mr Obama decried “extreme voices” that have only grown more shrill during his presidency and in the race to succeed him.

“We’ve got to build a better politics, one that’s less of a spectacle and more of a battle of ideas,” he told state legislators who were once his colleagues.

It was in Springfield nine years ago to the day that Mr Obama announced he was running for President.

Then, the young ravenhaired Senator pitched himself, above all, as an outsider who could soothe divisive partisan politics.

“You believe we can be one people, reaching for what’s possible, building that more perfect union,” he told the bundled- up crowd.

Mr Obama’s remarks

Returning to Springfield, where his White House journey began, Mr Obama decried ‘ extreme voices’ that have only grown more shrill during his presidency and in the race to succeed him

were delivered from the same spot where Abraham Lincoln — that great unifier — declared “a house divided against itself cannot stand”.

Nearly a decade on, Mr Obama admitted the picture was grim.

“The tone of our politics hasn’t gotten better since I was inaugurated. In fact, it’s gotten worse,” Mr Obama said. “There is still this yawning gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics.”

He sought to recall his time in the divided Illinois state legislature when bipartisan bills could be passed.

“We didn’t call each other idiots or fascists,” he said.