Obama Gets a Sufficient Enough Mark after 100 Days

The first 100 days of the presidency of Barack Obama are over. The exact date is April 29. That period of over three months has, according to a columnist at the Washington Post, many similarities with the opening chapter of a novel: once you have finished, you are able to discern the main characters and their motives, but you have no clue yet where it is headed.

Criterion

The first 100 of the 1,461 days that make up a presidential term are, therefore, not a good criterion for how the president will ultimately be judged. But they do give a good indication of the style of the new inhabitant of the White House. Obama’s can be characterized as decisive and calm.

At least equally important is the question of how the American voter, who gave Obama in November 2008 51 percent of the votes against 47 percent for his Republican opponent John McCain, now over three months after his entrance into office, thinks of him and of the situation of the country.

Positive

According to an opinion poll, carried out by order of the New York Times/CBS, 72 percent of Americans look toward the coming four years, with Obama as president, with optimism. Not even a year ago more than 80 percent thought the United States was on the wrong path.

68 percent have appreciation for the way Obama fulfills his duties; his predecessor George W. Bush was positively appreciated by 56 percent of those questioned at the same moment in time.

Especially on the issue of racial relations has a considerable jump forward been made. Two thirds of all participants called those relations now good (that was 53 percent in July 2008), while the percentage of blacks that share the same opinion has doubled to 60 percent since last summer. A spectacular increase.

Animosity

Of course, there is criticism as well. Obama evokes passionate resistance. The Washington Times accused the president of possessing animosity against traditional American values. That attitude would leap to the eye in both his economic politics and in his foreign policy.

But the praise dominates. Conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan writes on his weblog about Obama’s first 100 days as follows:

“My feeling is that we are dealing here with a subtle and prosperous start. He has shown to the world a new face of America. Obama has built trust and restored a feeling of responsibility. He has done the minimum to escape a truly dragging-along-everything depression. Knowledge is put above ideology again in the White House. Obama has reached out his hand far to his political opponents (without noticeable result, RK). And all this with a grace and eloquence that have made his popularity even bigger.”