Officials insisted it was not a crisis meeting, but President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet had plenty to worry about as they ended a two-day retreat devoted to discussions of the administrations faltering progress. Plummeting opinion poll ratings, divisions among Democrats about healthcare reform and distracting rows about Wall Street bonuses, economic stimulus programmes and racial politics all cast a shadow over the beginning of Washingtons summer recess. Obama and vice-president Joe Biden left the White House on foot on Friday evening to spend four hours at Blair House, a government guesthouse across the road, where all 22 cabinet members and several senior aides discussed policy over dinner. Its not a mid-course correction or a report card, insisted Robert Gibbs, the White House spokesman. Obama, who later departed for a weekend at Camp David, said the meeting went fine but gave no details. Despite mounting evidence that the US economy is beginning to recover from the recession, Obama has been in no mood to celebrate as popular concerns about the cost and effectiveness of his fiscal and healthcare policies continue to take a toll on his approval ratings. New polls last week showed that only 51% of Americans now believe it likely that Obama will bring real change to US government. The president acknowledged that signs of an upturn in economic activity had yet to benefit millions of Americans who have lost their jobs and homes to the recession. Vowing to continue to work every day until unemployment figures improve, Obama said he was guardedly optimistic that recovery was on the way. Administration officials insisted that there was no mood of panic, and that Obama had long expected that his once stratospheric approval ratings would quickly sink back to earth in a tough recession. His personal attributes are still very high, said a White House aide. People think he wants to do the right thing. (The Sunday Times)