Wednesday
Sep292010
Obamamania: The Prologue
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 at 5:31AM
I intended to write this blog post before President Obama came to visit here in Madison, based on my general impressions on him, on his presidency, and what I have heard from people on my travels around Wisconsin.
I have a whole new post to write on Obama's stirring speech to the crowds at UW-Madison, but I will save that one to follow up my initial impressions with my experiences today.
My dealings with voters across Wisconsin in the past few weeks largely confirmed what I myself had been feeling toward Obama: Disappointment. The elections in 2008 were filled with promise, with "hope" and with so much feeling of "change." I genuinely thought Obama would accomplish so much as President, and was almost swept along with the feelings of euphoria which engulfed the nation as Obama became the 44th President of the United States. And yet two years down the line, I cannot help but feel that Obama has not lived up to expectations, has not accomplished what he set out to achieve, and has not aspired to the superman status supports had ascribed to him.
The closure of Guantánamo Bay was fraught with difficulties; withdrawal from Iraq seemed half hearted; the economy remains in the doldrums; and the healthcare bill, though passed and signed into law, was plagued with revisions, additions and changes, greatly weakening the President's stand out policy. For some, Obama has intervened too much into private affairs, and meddled with the economy too much, spending too much on stimulus packages. For many, Obama has not done enough, failing to go the full distance in what he promised, intervening and spending too little. Month after month, the President's job approval ratings steadily declined, as in the eyes of voters, he was a disappointment. So much so, that democrats in close races have distanced themselves from the President, not wanting to be associated with his policies.
But has he really failed? Well he stopped the recession from becoming any worse, and set the economy back on the road to growth. He has withdrawn troops from Iraq, and has closed Guantánamo Bay. And the healthcare legislation he passed was the most monumental legislation of its kind. It just maybe wasn't enough.
Its quite possible, that Obama overstretched. He anticipated too much, promised too much, and ultimately did too much; more than he could handle. Instead of focusing all his energy on one important issue, he tried to diversify too much, and ended up not putting his full attention into each policy. While it is important to be ambitious, certainly with regards to life changing legislation, it may be that Obama has been too ambitious. Perhaps even too intelligent.
Much like President Carter before him, Obama is somewhat of an outsider to Washington. While he is an incredibly smart man, knowing exactly what he wants, and what is needed, he has been criticized for too much partisanship, for not being able to play the political game. He is a man from Illinois, accustomed to the political machines in cities like Chicago. Not used to the way things are run in D.C., despite being a Senator there. It was said that Carter knew everything that was going on in the White House, right down to who was playing on the tennis courts, and this immense knowledge transferred over to policies. However that did not help him in getting policy passed through Congress. It is possible to say the same thing about Obama, as despite his obvious intelligence, he has come under criticism for the way he has handled Congress, and then bemoans the fact that they will not pass his legislation. This poor congressional handling may also be down to the fact that Obama brought with him to the White House, lots of his own political aides from Illinois, and has kept many Washington political insiders out of the Oval Office. Again, this has generated criticism that Obama is only receiving a narrow set of advice from his advisers, which may be where some of his problems lie. There is a story that after his first year in politics in Illinois, a famous Senator from the state, a great politician, turned to Obama and said, "Kid, you're not cut out for this, you should find another profession."
Whatever the case for his approval ratings, Obama needs to get things together come the election in 2012, and if he wants a supportive Congress in the next two years, he really needs to rally the troops to get out the vote in November. And this he plans to do, by travelling across swing states and convincing voters of the good he has done, the good Democrats have done, and the need to do more.
Thus his first stop; Madison, Wisconsin. A state which is very important to national Democrats. A fight to hold the governorship, a fight to keep a Democrat Senator which could affect the whole Senate, and a fight to hold onto the state legislature. Preparations for his visit began over a week ago, as the logistics for an event like this are huge. Secret service has been patrolling the area, plans put into place. A lot of disruption results from the President's visit, as businesses must close, roads are shut, traffic held up and diverted. Secret Service, Madison Police, UW Police, Capitol Police and Dane County Sheriffs were all called in to help set up the event.
And was it worth it? Find out in the next post.
I have a whole new post to write on Obama's stirring speech to the crowds at UW-Madison, but I will save that one to follow up my initial impressions with my experiences today.
My dealings with voters across Wisconsin in the past few weeks largely confirmed what I myself had been feeling toward Obama: Disappointment. The elections in 2008 were filled with promise, with "hope" and with so much feeling of "change." I genuinely thought Obama would accomplish so much as President, and was almost swept along with the feelings of euphoria which engulfed the nation as Obama became the 44th President of the United States. And yet two years down the line, I cannot help but feel that Obama has not lived up to expectations, has not accomplished what he set out to achieve, and has not aspired to the superman status supports had ascribed to him.
The closure of Guantánamo Bay was fraught with difficulties; withdrawal from Iraq seemed half hearted; the economy remains in the doldrums; and the healthcare bill, though passed and signed into law, was plagued with revisions, additions and changes, greatly weakening the President's stand out policy. For some, Obama has intervened too much into private affairs, and meddled with the economy too much, spending too much on stimulus packages. For many, Obama has not done enough, failing to go the full distance in what he promised, intervening and spending too little. Month after month, the President's job approval ratings steadily declined, as in the eyes of voters, he was a disappointment. So much so, that democrats in close races have distanced themselves from the President, not wanting to be associated with his policies.
But has he really failed? Well he stopped the recession from becoming any worse, and set the economy back on the road to growth. He has withdrawn troops from Iraq, and has closed Guantánamo Bay. And the healthcare legislation he passed was the most monumental legislation of its kind. It just maybe wasn't enough.
Its quite possible, that Obama overstretched. He anticipated too much, promised too much, and ultimately did too much; more than he could handle. Instead of focusing all his energy on one important issue, he tried to diversify too much, and ended up not putting his full attention into each policy. While it is important to be ambitious, certainly with regards to life changing legislation, it may be that Obama has been too ambitious. Perhaps even too intelligent.
Much like President Carter before him, Obama is somewhat of an outsider to Washington. While he is an incredibly smart man, knowing exactly what he wants, and what is needed, he has been criticized for too much partisanship, for not being able to play the political game. He is a man from Illinois, accustomed to the political machines in cities like Chicago. Not used to the way things are run in D.C., despite being a Senator there. It was said that Carter knew everything that was going on in the White House, right down to who was playing on the tennis courts, and this immense knowledge transferred over to policies. However that did not help him in getting policy passed through Congress. It is possible to say the same thing about Obama, as despite his obvious intelligence, he has come under criticism for the way he has handled Congress, and then bemoans the fact that they will not pass his legislation. This poor congressional handling may also be down to the fact that Obama brought with him to the White House, lots of his own political aides from Illinois, and has kept many Washington political insiders out of the Oval Office. Again, this has generated criticism that Obama is only receiving a narrow set of advice from his advisers, which may be where some of his problems lie. There is a story that after his first year in politics in Illinois, a famous Senator from the state, a great politician, turned to Obama and said, "Kid, you're not cut out for this, you should find another profession."
Whatever the case for his approval ratings, Obama needs to get things together come the election in 2012, and if he wants a supportive Congress in the next two years, he really needs to rally the troops to get out the vote in November. And this he plans to do, by travelling across swing states and convincing voters of the good he has done, the good Democrats have done, and the need to do more.
Thus his first stop; Madison, Wisconsin. A state which is very important to national Democrats. A fight to hold the governorship, a fight to keep a Democrat Senator which could affect the whole Senate, and a fight to hold onto the state legislature. Preparations for his visit began over a week ago, as the logistics for an event like this are huge. Secret service has been patrolling the area, plans put into place. A lot of disruption results from the President's visit, as businesses must close, roads are shut, traffic held up and diverted. Secret Service, Madison Police, UW Police, Capitol Police and Dane County Sheriffs were all called in to help set up the event.
And was it worth it? Find out in the next post.
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