Barack Obama says he probably makes one mistake a day, but doesn’t think he has made any fundamental ones in almost 10 months as president of the United States.

Toward the end of his first term, his predecessor George W. Bush famously said in answer to a question that he could not think of any mistakes he had made — a comment which long dogged him as the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003 led to chaos in Iraq.

When Obama was asked the same question on Monday, he was quicker on his feet.

“Oh, we make at least one mistake a day,” he said with a smile.

“But I will say this, I don’t think we’ve made big mistakes,” he told Reuters in an interview in the Oval Office. “I don’t think we’ve made fundamental mistakes.”

When asked to give a few examples of errors, Obama regretted how his team had handled some of the early vetting of administration appointments, a reference to problems with personal taxes that knocked some key picks out of contention.

He also mentioned regret over how he had “phrased commentary” on the controversial arrest of a prominent African American Harvard University scholar in Cambridge earlier this year, when he said police had acted stupidly and was later forced to backtrack.

“I mean, there are constant sort of things that I think have proven unnecessary distractions,” he said.

“But in terms of the core decisions that we’ve made to rescue the economy, to move forward on a path for moving our troops from Iraq, on making sure that we’ve gone through a rigorous process in Afghanistan, to how we have moved healthcare to a place that seven presidents have not been able to get to, I feel very good about our progress.”

Highlights from the Interview

For more from the interview, click on the story links below:

Obama warns of strains with China

Obama on Iran nuclear deal

Obama on Copenhagen climate summit

Obama says expect to sign START pact in December

Obama reading Life of Pi

Photo Credit:Reuters/Jim Young (Obama answers questions during Reuters interview in Oval Office)

The House passage of healthcare legislation means different things to different folks.

For President Barack Obama it was a “courageous vote” by members of Congress.

Obama went to Capitol Hill Saturday to personally press for passage. Today he was full of praise.

“Given the heated and often misleading rhetoric surrounding this legislation, I know that this was a courageous vote for many members of Congress,” Obama said in the Rose Garden.

For Sarah Palin the healthcare bill was a mess.

“We’ve got to hold on to hope, and we’ve got to fight hard because Congressional action tonight just put America on a path toward an unrecognizable country,” Palin said on her Facebook page.

“This out-of-control bureaucratic mess will be disastrous for our economy, our small businesses, and our personal liberty,” she says.

For Congressman Anh “Joseph” Cao, the only Republican to vote for the House bill, it was “the right decision for my district, even though it was not the popular decision for my party.”

Watch CNN’s interview of the first-term congressman from Louisiana below:

Who do you agree with?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas (Obama on way to making statement on healthcare)

The October employment report is in and it’s a shocker.

The unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983 when it was also 10.2 pct. If you don’t want to do the math, that was 26 years ago. It was worse than expectations for 9.9 percent.

This is not good news for President Barack Obama who is struggling to pull the economy out of the worst recession since the Depression.

The employment numbers were also worse than expected with October payrolls falling 190,000, a bigger drop than the 175,000 decline expected.

It’s a day of mourning at Fort Hood in Texas after an Army psychiatrist went on a shooting rampage that killed 12 soldiers and one civilian and wounded 30.

“It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil,” President Barack Obama said yesterday.

“I was saddened to learn of the tragic incident at Fort Hood. Laura and I are keeping the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,” former President George W. Bush, who lives in Texas, said in a statement.

Suspected gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan was in stable condition but investigators had not yet been able to interrogate him, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, Fort Hood commanding officer, said on NBC’s “Today” show.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jim Young (Obama makes remarks about shooting at Fort Hood on Nov. 5)

It’s the day before the all-important employment report for October. (Expectation is for a 175,000 drop in payrolls and an uptick in the unemployment rate to 9.9 percent, which would be a 26-year high).

It’s the day after the New York Yankees won the World Series. (Condolences Phillies fans).

It’s the day before the House of Representatives might send healthcare overhaul legislation to the floor for debate with the goal of a Saturday vote. (Have learned never to bet on the timing of legislation on the Hill).

It’s the day after President Barack Obama didn’t comment on the previous night’s elections. (We’re still on POTUS election comment watch).

It’s the day before FRIDAY!!!! (Although some of us are working on the weekend).

It’s the day after both parties spun Tuesday’s election results every which way to suit them. (Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says it was a win, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says it was the sign of a ‘Republican Renaissance’).

As for today, Obama hosts a White House Tribal Nations Conference, meets with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, meets with President Ian Khama of Botswana, meets with representatives of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (probably to get a fill on her recent trip to Pakistan and the Middle East).

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Photo credit: Reuters/Ray Stubblebine (New York Yankees players after winning World Series)

The East Room of the White House was turned into a chamber ringing with classical music from celebrities such as violinist Joshua Bell on Wednesday as part of the fourth installment in First Lady Michelle Obama’s ongoing performance series.

President Barack Obama welcomed the hushed crowd, which included a handful of high school musicians and members of Congress, by telling those unsure of when to applaud during classical performances they were not alone.

Former President John F. Kennedy had the same problem, he said, until he enlisted his social secretary to discreetly signal him to clap.

“Fortunately, I have Michelle to tell me when to applaud,” he kidded. “The rest of you are on your own.”

The performance, which also featured Sharon Isbin teasing the themes of “Asturias” by Isaac Albeniz from her classical guitar and pianist Awadagin Pratt sneaking the melody of Hail to the Chief at the end of a piece, capped a day of master classes and workshops hosted by the First Lady for more than 100 student musicians at the White House.

During the evening performance 8-year-old Sujari Britt, from New York, played alongside renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein, eliciting cheers from the audience and a standing ovation from Obama.

The concert airs on SIRIUS XM Radio’s Symphony Hall Channel over the weekend. The White House concert series kicked off in June focusing on Jazz.  Other concerts featured country and Latin music.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (The Obamas at White House classical music concert)

There are certain upsides to life as a first daughter — travel on Air Force One, White House sleepovers, your new dog Bo — but there are definitely downsides, like when you are 11 years old and your dad tells the world about how you got a C on your science test.

Parents could imagine the groans when President Barack Obama veered away from his prepared remarks during a speech at a Wisconsin middle school on Wednesday to talk about his own sixth-grade daughter and her 73.

“So Malia came home the other day.  She had gotten a 73 on her science test,” Obama said.  “Now, she’s a 6th grader.  There was a time a couple years ago when she came home with like an 80-something and she said, ‘I did pretty well.’  And I said, ‘No, no, no.  That’s’ — I said, ‘Our goal is — Our goal is 90 percent and up.’” 

For our international readers, in most U.S. school systems, 90 percent and above is an A, the highest mark; 80 to 89 percent is a B, considered “good;” 70 to 79 percent is a C, for work deemed merely average; 60 to 69 is a D, for “just passing,” and below 60 is an F, for failure.

Malia, the elder of Obama’s two daughters and a student at an elite Washington private school, came home with the 73 more recently, Obama recalled.

“So she came and she was depressed,” he said, and then recounted a conversation in which he asked his daughter what happened and she explained that the study guide the teacher had handed out had not conformed to the material on the test.

“So what’s your idea here?” the president asked.

Obama told the story of how Malia had taken her setback to heart, by deciding on her own not to rely on teacher’s study guides, but to study the entire chapter. “I’m going to change how I study, how I approach it,” she said, according to her father, who added, “So she came home yesterday, she was — ‘I got a 95′ - right? - so she’s high-fiving,” Obama said.

“But here’s the point,” the proud parent added, using the conversation to make his point that children must succeed on their own, but need their parents’ support.  “She said — she said, ‘I just like having knowledge.’  That’s what she said.  And what was happening was she had started wanting it more than us.”

The crowd in Madison, Wisconsin, cheered, but maybe somewhere a certain middle-schooler was wishing dad had stuck to his text.

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PHOTO CREDIT: U.S. President Barack Obama is welcomed by his daughters Sasha (L) and Malia, who is holding their dog Bo, on his return to Washington after a day trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania, where he participated in labor and economic rallies, September 15, 2009. REUTERS/Mike Theiler

The First spokesman has spoken: Tuesday’s elections were not about the president after all.

In the New Jersey and Virginia governor races, which Republicans won, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says voters were working through “very local issues that didn’t involve the president.”

For his part, President Barack Obama, who campaigned for both Democrats who lost, received updates on the races but didn’t watch the election returns last night.

Gibbs warns not to make too much of that: “I wouldn’t read a ton into that since he didn’t actually watch election returns when he was running.”

And then he plugged the HBO documentary about Obama that ran last night (a sure sign they liked what they saw). “If you did watch the movie on HBO, we called him and told him he won Iowa. He did not watch election returns.”

That was of course a year ago, and Reuters White House Correspondent Caren Bohan describes Gibbs this morning as somewhat wistful about the anniversary of Grant Park and Obama’s election night celebration.

So what were Tuesday’s election results all about then?

The White House is emphasizing that local issues were the main concern for voters, such as property taxes in New Jersey. Gibbs also acknowledged the economy is very much on people’s minds.

“I think voters are concerned about the economy. I don’t think the president needed an election or an exit poll to come to that conclusion,” he said.

“If the president had been asked by an exit poller yesterday ‘are you concerned about the economy?’ He would have answered ‘yes’,” Gibbs said.

What do you think was the message from voters in Tuesday’s elections?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Gibbs speaks to reporters on Air Force One in March)

No matter how they slice and dice it, Democrat losses in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races are bad news for the party of President Barack Obama as he tries to move an ambitious agenda forward.

Congressional Democrats are already jittery about mid-term elections in 2010 when the party of a first-term president usually loses seats. And Tuesday’s Republican wins will only scare them more.

Even before the New Jersey race was called for Republican Chris Christie over incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, Democrats were postulating that this would be the race to watch rather than the Republican win in Virginia where Bob McDonnell beat Democrat Creigh Deeds.

“If the Democrats have a bad night…”  James Carville, Democratic pundit, said on CNN after the Virginia race was called but before the New Jersey results were out.

“Let’s assume that the Democrats lose New Jersey, it could have an effect that people in Congress say ‘you know I’m not going to go along with some of Obama’s stuff, I’m really scared, we’ve gotta be careful, we’re going into 2010.’ That could be a reaction to that, maybe even an overreaction, which could be a danger,” Carville said. “That’s something that could have some implications.”

The White House has been downplaying these elections which come one year after Obama won the presidency. Spokesman Robert Gibbs was telling reporters that Obama was not watching the returns. (Fairly sure he’ll get the word somehow).

What it all means will be debated for days, weeks and months as the 2010 mid-term elections come closer.

What do you think? Is this a sign of things to come?

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Photo credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni (Carrots chopped in Los Angeles), Reuters/Jim Young (sign at Corzine rally where Obama spoke on Nov. 1)

Pundits always use sports analogies for politics, we’re thinking of trying something different — a hair color analogy.

Virginia returned to its red roots tonight after an impetuous experiment last year with blue, the state’s political color of a generation ago.

OK maybe it doesn’t work as well. To put it more simply, the Republicans won the governor’s race in Virginia. That was in contrast to last year when Barack Obama captured the state which voted Democrat in a presidential election for the first time since 1964.

After Virginia was called, Republicans could not hide their glee, joy, smiley faces. And they were quick with reactions to Republican Bob McDonnell’s victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds.

Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele issued a statement and repeatedly went on CNN including on the “Larry King Live” show. “It sends a clear signal that voters have had enough of the president’s liberal agenda,” he said.

Then he boarded a plane for New Jersey. Hmmm is that a sign?

Democrats smiled and acted as if it were no big deal. Really. UNDERSTATED SHRUG. After all, they said, it’s the New Jersey governor’s race that means more because it’s a traditionally Democratic state.  And that race hasn’t been called yet.

Outgoing Virginia Governor Tim Kaine who is Democratic Party chairman also appeared on CNN and had this to say about the race to fill his old job.

“Creigh was the underdog candidate,” Kaine said. “But not every underdog wins.”

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo credit: Reuters/Eric Gaillard (hostesses at Monte Carlo ball), Reuters/Hyungwon Kang (campaign signs in Virginia)

In eight U.S. states and the capital, Washington, D.C., being beaten by your spouse or domestic partner can be deemed a “pre-existing condition” that a company can legally use as a reason to deny health insurance coverage. Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, raised the issue in a web chat making the White House’s case for healthcare reform on Monday.

“In some states if you have been a victim of domestic violence, you can be considered as having a pre-existing condition,” Jarrett said as she hosted the chat on the White House website and on the Facebook social networking site, taking questions on an array of issues, many having to do with healthcare issues faced by members of minority groups.

Some of the participants in the webcast responded by posting outraged notes after she said it.

“We need your engagement, we need your involvement,” Jarrett said, urging chat participants to get involved in the reform push. “… It is extremely important that we have this passed and on the president’s desk this year.”

The National Women’s Law Center said eight states — Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho — and the U.S. capital city allow insurers to deem being a domestic violence survivor a “pre-existing condition.” The center also notes that the list of such conditions, for which women can be denied coverage, in some states also includes pregnancy or having had medical treatment following a sexual assault.

The White House has been staging events targeting a variety of audiences to make its pitch for an overhaul of  the massive U.S. healthcare system. On Thursday, for example, Obama addressed small business owners and officials from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group. Jarrett’s chat on Monday seemed to target a younger audience. And on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills were to meet with small business owners in Washington in an event also to be streamed on the Internet.

Denial of coverage to people who are sick, or have been sick — i.e. those whom insurers deem to have pre-existing conditions — is one of many emotional issues in the healthcare debate and health insurance companies have been a favorite target for many advocates of reform.

A health insurance industry spokesman said the industry backs efforts to change the policy.

“No one should be denied coverage because they are a victim of domestic abuse. Health plans strongly support the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s model legislation that prohibits discrimination against victims of abuse and we are urging all states to promptly adopt it,” said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for the America’s Health Insurance Plans industry group in Washington.

Photo credit: Valerie Jarrett, advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama, watches as he speaks about the need for health insurance reform this year, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, October 5, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed, and People protest against healthcare reform as the House Democrats’ healthcare plan is unveiled on Capitol Hill in Washington, October 29, 2009. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts