What’s Left of Obama?

No defeat like the one coming can be explained only by the success of the winners. Obama has made mistakes that have allowed his enemies to have their own ways. It is arguable whether it was because of faulty content or communication failures, but certainly his first two years in office have left dissatisfied both those who voted for him and those who voted against him. The new health care law and financial reform, his main achievements, faded soon after their approval. The president has failed in his desire to unite the nation and has lost his connection with citizens.

As a result, conditions that are attributable to the previous administration — like the economic crisis or the war in Afghanistan — today are attributed to Obama. Additionally, he is denied such obvious merit as to have avoided the financial disaster that hung over the country or have restored good U.S. relations with its allies and its main international competitors.

Some things could have been done differently, and thus the White House appears to be admitting that by replacing some of the president’s collaborators. The left wing has missed a chance for a more aggressive stimulus plan to create jobs and greater support for health care reform. The democratic right wing laments that Obama has enlarged the debt and intends to raise taxes on the rich. But probably none of these recommendations would have served to prevent the situation from being how it is now. Obama’s victory set off a primitive reaction of rejection from the conservative white America who, obsessively paranoid, thought a coalition of progressive educated elites and racial minorities were stealing their home country. “Give us our country back!” is constantly shouted at tea party demonstrations.

With the disorientation of the left wing, unable to offer their countrymen a clear and convincing plan to support Obama, this rural conservatism, helped by Fox, has monopolized the public opinion with a simple message that is deep down rooted in American society : against the state, for freedom. Soon after, 30 percent of Republicans came to believe that Obama was a Muslim and, indeed, thought that America was a socialist country. Obama was openly asked about it last week in an appearance on MTV. “Mr. President,” one participant said, “my greatest fear is that we are turning into a Communist country.”

“This is an example of how our political rhetoric gets spun up,” Obama replied shyly. Actually, this suddenly seems a struggle between those who defend the principles of the American Revolution and its Constitution against a group of renegades who work for foreign causes.

Who better to fish in those waters than a master of dirty tricks like Karl Rove, who last year was able to set up the machinery to channel all that anger and get electoral returns.

This is not, however, Obama’s end. Despite having his approval rating fall to 45 percent in the polls, the president is still the most popular politician in the country. The two years ahead may still change a lot. This could be enough time both for Obama to reconnect with the public and for divisions in the rival field to appear when deciding the name of a presidential candidate.