The good news is there’s also a lot they can do about this, from reducing the influence of money in politics, to changing the way they draw congressional districts, to simply changing the way they treat each other, says the US president

WASHINGTON: Nine years after he announced his decision to run for the highest office in the country, US President Barack Obama has said that the politics of the country has become worse, but he is still hopeful.

“I will be the first to admit that the tone of our politics hasn’t gotten better, but worse,” Obama said in his weekly radio and web address to the nation from Illinois State Senate where he had announced his presidential bid nine years ago with the message of hope. “Too many people feel like the system is rigged, and their voices don’t matter. And when good people are pushed away from participating in our public life, more powerful and extreme voices will fill the void,” he said. “They will be the ones who gain control over decisions that could send a young soldier to war, or allow another economic crisis, or roll back the rights that generations of Americans have fought to secure,” the US president said. “Nine years after I first announced for this office, I still believe in a politics of hope. And for all the challenges of a changing world; for all the imperfections of our democracy; choosing a politics of hope is something that’s entirely up to each of us,” he said. Obama said the good news is there’s also a lot they can do about this, from reducing the influence of money in politics, to changing the way they draw congressional districts, to simply changing the way they treat each other. Obama’s second-term presidency is ending in November this year. — PTI