Weights

Published in Liberation
(France) on 3 August 2009
by Francois Sergent (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Louis Standish. Edited by Katy Burtner.
Obama doesn’t walk on water. His campaign, his election, and his first steps made people believe in the marvel of his power, ignoring the weights of politics and the realities of the economy. Arriving in the White House in the wake of a major crisis, in a country participating in two dubious wars, Obama has always kept his legendary cool and unyielding popularity.

The biggest ambition of his term and his great electoral promise, healthcare reform, has rightly been one of these miracles. The president has fallen in the polls and his voters are now doubting him. They have seen his limits. The blunders of the White House and the resistance from counterweights in the United States - Congress, the media, lobbyists - have made it hard for him. Healthcare reform is just as vital for ethical reasons as it is economically in a country filled with Americans without health insurance. But the intervention of the state, perceived as too heavy in that sector, remains taboo.

The project will likely finish by being passed in the autumn, but it will be toned down here and there from the campaign commitments made by the president. Obama will nevertheless boast to have succeeded where Clinton, regarded as the ultimate politician, failed. His next appointment will be the economy, where his presidency will play out. But Obama knows that it is unemployment where he will recover the trust of those who elected him and believe in him.


Obama ne marche pas sur l’eau. Sa campagne, son élection, ses premiers pas auraient pu faire croire à un prodige du pouvoir ignorant les pesanteurs de la politique et les réalités de l’économie. Arrivé à la Maison Blanche en plein cœur d’une crise majeure, dans un pays embarqué dans deux guerres douteuses, Obama avait conservé tout à la fois son cool légendaire et une popularité inentamée.

La grande ambition de son mandat, sa grande promesse électorale, la réforme du système de santé, a eu raison de ces miracles. Le Président est tombé dans les sondages, ses électeurs désormais doutent. Ils ont vu ses limites. Les maladresses de la Maison Blanche, les résistances des contre-pouvoirs aux Etats-Unis - le Congrès, les médias, les lobbys - l’ont mis en difficulté. La réforme de la santé, la «sécurité sociale», est pourtant vitale pour des raisons autant éthiques qu’économiques dans un pays plombé par des millions d’Américains sans assurance santé. Mais l’intervention de l’Etat, perçue comme trop lourde en ce secteur, demeure un tabou.

Ce projet finira vraisemblablement par passer à l’automne. Mais il sera édulcoré et en deçà des engagements de campagne du Président. Obama pourra néanmoins se targuer d’avoir réussi là où Clinton, réputé l’ultime politicien, avait échoué. Son prochain rendez-vous sera l’économie, où se jouera sa présidence. Ces dernières semaines, des indices montrent des signes de reprise pour les entreprises et les banques. Mais Obama sait que c’est sur le chômage qu’il recouvrera la confiance de ceux qui l’ont élu et cru en lui.
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