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29 Jan, 2010 22:21

ObamaGirl disenchanted with US president

Amber Lee Ettinger's original "Crush on Obama" video, first shown in 2007, has had more than 16.5 million views on YouTube. How does she feel about Obama a year later?

 More than 16 million people have viewed Amber Lee Ettinger’s professions of love for US President Barack Obama on YouTube, but a year later, “ObamaGirl,” as she became known, has few words of praise for the commander in chief.

“I’d have to say the crush has died down a little bit. He got me and everyone else really excited about his message and his hope for change. I’ve been a little bit disappointed that change hasn’t come fast enough,” said Ettinger.

Much of the United States shares her feelings. A recent NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed that only 22 percent of the US public thinks that the government is working well.

This week, Ettinger, 28, began speaking out about her disenchantment with the president, saying that she would give his first-year performance a grade B-. She wishes he had focused more on the economy in his first year rather than health care – even though she doesn’t have any.

In his first State of the Union address this week, Obama said that going forward he would concentrate on creating jobs and called for the enactment of a jobs bill. Ettinger found that encouraging, and she also liked the way he was honest about the failings of his efforts thus far.

“I haven’t lost faith in him,” Ettinger said, “When he does more acting than talking, that’s when we’re going to see good results.”

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