Obama Passes the Six-Month Mark

Barack Obama has run into some turbulence recently. Now, by passing health care reform, he hopes to maintain the trust of the American people.

The candidate of all hope and all possibilities, Barack Obama created a slogan “Yes we can,” designed to fire up the public imagination. Today, six months after taking office, Barack Obama faces the challenge of “getting back to reality.”

Doubts are creeping in. Expectations are growing that have yet to be fulfilled. And the 44th American president’s popularity is wavering. Fifty-five percent of Americans still support him, but the number of unhappy people and skeptics continues to grow, according to an Associated Press poll. A Gallup poll for “USA Today” underlines the fact that the current occupant of the White House now has a lower popularity rating than his predecessor George W. Bush had at the same point in his administration.

Calm and collected by nature, Barack Obama easily passed the symbolic 100-day mark. Last spring, he was still enjoying a grace period. But the first six months are a more difficult mark to pass successfully.

Psychological Victory

Elected to beat the economic downturn and break from the image of America abroad left by George W. Bush, the new president cannot yet claim any tangible success. Even for the most powerful man in the world, six months is not enough time to fix an economic downturn of 1929 proportions, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the standoffs with Iran and North Korea, the quarrel with Russia, the contentious Israeli-Palestinian conflict… How could a solution to any of these problems have already popped up?

It is still too early. But in these symbolic, media-dominated times that the voters live in, it could be almost too late. That is why Barack Obama is “forcing” his health-care reform through Congress to pass it before the summer recess. A success in this area would contrast sharply with Bill and Hillary Clinton’s failure. And while waiting for the effects of health-care reform to make themselves felt (digging deeper deficits, say the Republicans; a return of confidence, responds the White House) the passage of the bill by Congress would be a psychological victory. Obama could declare once again, “Yes, we can.”

The time has not yet come to make a list of promises not kept. But we can begin to doubt that Barack Obama will succeed in closing the prison at Guantanamo, as he pledged to do, one year after taking office. Only eleven detainees have been released so far. The withdrawal of troops from Iraq by the end of 2011 is still an uncertain goal. The financial regulatory system, which he swore to put in place, is still fiercely fought over by the banking and finance industries. And, as the budget director of the White House admitted recently, “We have to be patient” about social and economic reform.