The Barack Obama juggernaut swept into office in 2008 under the banner of change and unity, two concepts that appeared to reinvigorate the blasé and jaded section of the electorate. He was armed with a war chest of the likes never seen before, accompanied by an army of politically outspoken glitterati and aided ultimately by a waning George Bush, his predecessor.
It would be unfair though to solely credit Obama’s ascension to the highest office in the land to merely external factors. Obama is exceptionally intelligent, articulate and possesses an old-school, hands-on approach to politics that harkens back to the days of Strom Thurmond, or even, the more contemporary Rudy Giuliani – albeit with infinitely more panache.
However, as the euphoria of his victory steadily dies down, the 50-year old has had to deal with a growing number of issues that have taken the shine of his presidency. Questions about his much derided health care plan, rising unemployment rates, the direction and perceived big government approach towards the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the Birther accusations (which many felt carries an unpleasant racial undertones) and more recently, the debt ceiling battle in the Capitol, have seen his stock plummet.
His supporters, nevertheless, claim that most of the issues that are weighing him down were inherited from the previous administration, and Obama is merely cleaning up the mess. They are quick to highlight his recent successes against Osama bin Laden, the jobs created in the two years of his administration that the Bush administration could not match in eight years, the recovery of the automotive industry following the Obama-led bailout plan two years ago – all proof of President Obama’s successful policies.
However, the biggest question among his detractors is whether Obama is capable of charting his own course and holding the country to it, as his concessionary approach is gradually being interpreted as a symbol of his indecisiveness and lack of convictions; which under the present socio-economic conditions and the Republican-dominated Congress, threatens to consign the nation into a rudderless second term of his presidency. Furthermore, the more liberal section of his support base is increasingly dismayed by his apparent shift to the center, perceived by many as capitulating to the conservative onslaught.
But Obama, in the continued absence of a credible Republican candidate, appears poised to claim his second term at the Oval Office. The resolution of the debt ceiling fiasco, the marginal success of his foreign policies in North Africa and the stabilizing crude oil prices may well give Obama the final push needed to secure his reelection.
