By RON FOURNIER (AP) – 6 hours ago

WASHINGTON — The throw-the-bums-out mentality is so strong in American politics that even the ultimate insider — the president of the United States — is running against Washington.

Casting yourself as an outsider from inside the White House is no easy trick, especially when your party controls both houses of Congress. But that doesn't stop Barack Obama from trying.

"At stake right now is not just our ability to solve this problem," Obama said Wednesday, referring to the U.S. health care system, "but our ability to solve any problem. The American people want to know if it's still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future."

It may seem like a stretch, but it makes political sense for Obama to run against Washington. Other presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, did it for most of their terms. President George W. Bush convinced voters he was a regular Joe rather than the privileged son of a former president — George H.W. Bush — who served for years in Washington.

Voters despise the place.

Almost nine out of 10 Americans say officials in Washington are heavily influenced by special interests and only care about getting re-elected, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll. Nearly as many say Washington politicians are out of touch. "Honest" is a word that only 22 percent of Americans would use to describe their national leaders.

A CBS News/New York Times poll in early February found 81 percent saying it's time to elect new people to Congress, with just 8 percent saying most members deserve re-election.

These are anemic numbers, even for Washington. The antiestablishment fervor has many consequences:

_The once-dismissed loose confederation of "tea party" activists opposed to big government, bailouts and higher taxes is causing heartburn for establishment candidates across the country.

_Republican Scott Brown won the seat long held by Sen. Ted Kennedy after promising to change Washington's ways.

_Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison lost a GOP primary fight to Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Forced to choose between two incumbents, Texas voters sided heavily against the one who works in Washington.

No stranger to the politics of change, Obama is trying to find his footing in an unfriendly landscape. And so there he was Wednesday, spinning his White House service into an anti-Washington crusade.

Obama said: "I spent seven hours at a summit where Democrats and Republicans engaged the public in substantive discussion about health care."

The spin: He is uniting a divided capital.

Obama said: "So now is the time to make a decision about how to finally reform health care so that it works, not just for the insurance companies, but for America's families and businesses."

The spin: He's not beholden to special interest groups like the rest of Washington.

Obama said: "I'll leave it to others to sift through the politics. Because that's not what this is about. That's not why we're here."

The spin: He's above politics. He's not part of that mess in Washington.

And, finally, Obama said his health care plan "incorporates the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans — including some of the ideas that Republicans offered during the health care summit."

The spin: He's a get-it-done public servant, not a Washington ideologue.

It wasn't always this way. For many decades, Washington was a town politicians proudly called their own — the pinnacle of their profession. But as the public's faith in government started its long decline in the 1960s, presidents and other politicians began distancing themselves from the nation's capital. Reagan's election in 1980 made anti-Washington rhetoric a cliche for future presidents.

Indeed, the cornerstone of Obama's campaign was his promise to make Washington work for the public. But the burdens of governing have largely stifled his "change we can believe in" agenda.

A month ago, while scrambling to recover from Brown's election, Obama warned lawmakers that voters will punish them in November if they fail to fix health care.

"If Congress decides we're not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not," he said.

Note that Obama referred to the Democratic-led Congress as "this Congress" as if it weren't part of the political structure that he's leading. Was he distancing himself from a Democratic Congress? It seemed so.

"They are waiting for us to act," Obama said Wednesday. "They are waiting for us to lead. And as long as I hold this office, I intend to provide that leadership."

And as long as he lives in Washington, Obama is likely to run against it.

EDITOR'S NOTE _ Ron Fournier is Washington bureau chief for The Associated Press. Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

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