The election of Barack Obama was an important one. Not only did it get many young people involved (and passionate about) in politics, but it marked the changing of times. He won over citizens with promises of change and a slogan that told us "yes we can." However as times passes Obama is the target of more and more criticism concerning his policies and the progress he has made in helping our country flourish.
Sarah Palin is just one of the many to voice her opinion of the President (and his lack of efficiency in terms of immigration reforms), with her somewhat controversial comment that Arizona's governor (who happens to be female) "has more 'cojones' than Obama." She goes on to say that Obama is "in over his head" and "too weak" to deal with issues such as immigration and national security. But, the Arizona Lawsuit (to which Palin is referring) aside, the White House is making an attempt to do something about immigration. Today CNN reported that the House of Representatives approved $600 million to go to border patrol along the U.S. and Mexico, which has attracted "strong Democratic and Republican support."
However it is not all about national security and immigration. On Monday Obama visited the University of Texas at Austin to talk about higher education. In his speech the President details some of his accomplishments over the last 18 months. This includes ending combat in Iraq this month and making health care more affordable (and allowing kids to stay on their parents' health care plan until the age of 26). Obama also talks about his goal of making the United States a "green country", which he hopes will in turn help the economy. Most of all though, our President speaks about higher education as the path to a better economy. Our college graduate rate has fallen and Obama plans to help by "making college more affordable" by creating programs to make it easier to pay back loans and strengthening Pell Grants.
Despite the criticism of many, the President is trying to do what he thinks is right for this country. Time's photographer Callie Shell, who has had many chances to observe Obama closely recounts that she still sees the same man who fought in the election; "[Obama] still listens to several opinions, he still likes to have his ideas challenged."
I don't think, as Palin put it, that Obama is "in over his head" as the President of the United States -- I think that he is a very cautious individual and is taking the necessary steps to help our country. We should all have open minds now and give him the opportunity to put his plans to use.
4 comments:
This is a response to Victoria's post, titled "Obama Criticism." I completely agree with what Victoria wrote. Obama is "taking the necessary steps to help our country." Although he has many critics, I believe that he is taking America in the right direction. Sometimes I am surprised to see how low Obama's approval ratings have become. It doesn't seem possible that the same men and women that voted for Obama back in 2008 have now turned their backs on him. After all, Obama has fulfilled a large number of extremely ambitious campaign promises, making this Congress the most productive one since the passage of the Great Society acts.
Perhaps the biggest issue in the early campaign season was the Iraq War, the conflict that came to symbolize George W. Bush's doctrine of preventative war. As the campaign began Americans were sick of the violence and conflict going on in Iraq while little progress was being made. Obama convinced the American people early on that he never supported the war and he would bring the war to a close swiftly and responsibly. Obama has made good on that promise.
As the campaign continued, and the financial crisis took center stage, Obama assured the people that he would reign in on speculative practices in Wall Street and make sure nothing like this ever happened again. As of last month, Obama has made good on that promise.
When Obama came into office people were being denied essential health coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Premiums were skyrocketing and the American public was imploring the next administration to do the one thing that every president in modern American history had failed to do: enact real health care reform. Obama promised that he would be the one to do it. And although the battle was tough, compromises were made and a bill that will drastically increase health care coverage was passed. Obama has made good on his promise.
In a nation where campaign promises are often empty rhetoric, Obam has fared quite well. He has done what he set out to do. So why then, do the very same people who elected Obama now disapprove of the path he is taking America? I believe that the answer is twofold. First, people are worried about their jobs, and second, change has not come as perfectly or as quickly as some would have hoped. About the first point, I think Americans have simply grown tired at our slumping economy. They thought Obama could wave a magic wand and fix our broken economy but it simply wasn't that simple. Until the jobs come back, many Americans will simply refuse to approve of Obama's actions. In Victoria's article, she mentions certain criticisms by Sarah Palin. I think conservatives like Palin are simply taking advantage of this uneasy feeling pervading America. In all likelihood, a Republican in office would have done just as well or just as poorly in shaping the economy; these issues take time and it is unfair to demand quick results from any president. Yet that has not stopped them from using this to fan the flames of discontent throughout America.
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Victoria also pointed out that the election of 2008 excited the young people, making them passionate about politics for the first time. While this was great during the campaign, it seems to be hurting him now. Because the young and the idealistic were Obama's biggest supporters. Obama seemed to be the new man willing to enact broad and sweeping change throughout Washington. However, when his ideas were met by reality, a lot of (young) people, including me for a while, were sorely disappointed. This is perhaps another reason why those who voted for Obama now disapprove of him even though he fulfilled so many of his promises.
Victoria also mentioned Obama's speech at UT. I was lucky enough to be one of the "limited number of students" to be able to attend the speech. I was also able to attend Obama's rally just before his debate with Hillary Clinton during the primaries back in 2008. I agree with Callie Shell; the president is the same man we saw during the campaign. I was amazed at Obama's dedication to the issues. I was also amazed by how enthusiastic the audience was. Students were willing to camp out from 10 pm to 8 am just to hear the president speak. They cheered at Obama's initiatives and laughed at his humor. Supporters for Obama are still out there, and rightfully so. Obama has been a great president thus far, and has been the recipient of often unfair criticism.
I agree people out there are giving way too much unsupported criticism on Obama. I understand his plans but for as much as he pushed this 'Change' campaign went, I really haven't seen too much change. One of my teachers said that you really can't see what a president has done until after his term, but can we really afford to trust that rule right now?
I think that, like Kennedy, Obama's charm won the presidency, not him. People wanted to change history so badly that they gave in to the charm that Obama gave in all of his speeches and even in his appearance. He's got a beautiful, (African-) American family that sold his followers. He almost gave a commercial-like presence with him & his family where the undertones said, "If you vote for me, your family can be like this again, back to the good ol' days!"
Even though he's promised big, doesn't mean that he's going to come through big.
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