Obama says 2014 ‘can be a breakthrough year’ for US, says 2013 not worst for him in office

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says 2014 “can be a breakthrough year for America” after a long era of recession and slow recovery.

Obama spoke Friday as he concluded his fifth year in office. He and his family were departing later in the day for their holiday vacation in Hawaii.

Asked if this year had been the worst of his presidency, he laughed and said, “That’s not how I think about it.”

Obama’s polls are at or near the low point of his tenure in the White House. The rollout of the health care website bombed, and high-visibility parts of his agenda have yet to make it through Congress, including a call for gun safety legislation after a major school shooting a year ago.

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