Health insurance, climate change, the economy and two wars- after coming up against such realities during his first year in power, Barack Obama has to succeed in the mid term elections of 2010, which are traditionally difficult for an American president.
Elected on slogans of ‘hope’ and ‘change,’ the first black president of the United States has attempted, since the beginning of his term, to put an end to part of the consequences of eight years of Republican power by ordering the closure of Guantánamo and banning torture.
Leaving behind George W. Bush’s ‘axis of evil’ rhetoric, the Democratic leader has reached out to countries such as Iran, Cuba and North Korea, has set out to withdraw American soldiers from Iraq by the end of 2011, and is trying to re-launch negotiations between Israel and Palestine.
On the domestic front, Mr. Obama is dealing with the worst economic crisis since 1930 by implementing a stimulus package of $787 billion along with greater regulation of the financial system. He is also forcing the struggling American auto industry to restructure.
After long negotiations, Mr. Obama succeeded in achieving health insurance reform after the Senate gave the green light to the bill that provides insurance coverage to an additional 30 million Americans. The text has to be reconciled with that of the House of Representatives before being promulgated, certainly not before the end of January.
Mr. Obama, champion of the ‘green’ economy, is not so happy with the way in which the fight against global warming is developing. Despite a bill being passed in the House, there promises to be an arduous battle in the Senate at the beginning of 2010. Additionally, the Copenhagen Summit, despite the President’s participation, failed to reach a binding agreement on limiting greenhouse gases.
Usually some elected representatives are averse to taking risks, but currently the entire House of Representatives and a third of the Senate are seeking re-election in November 2010. Mr. Obama’s leeway during the second part of his term in office will depend on these elections.
The coming months are therefore going to be crucial for a president whose popularity has dropped to less than 50%. Although the unemployment rate has apparently stabilized, it still remains at 10%- unheard of in the last 25 years. Also, the budget deficit has exceeded 1.4 trillion dollars, thus questioning the strength of the dollar.
Despite a change of tone on the international scene, greeted by an unexpected and, for some, premature Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. Obama also finds himself balancing on a tightrope abroad after taking the gamble of military escalation in Afghanistan.
Iraq remains in the grip of violence and Iran has not put a stop to its nuclear program. Israelis and Palestinians are still not negotiating.
The 48 year-old Mr. Obama is keeping the charisma and eloquence that served him during the electoral campaign to himself, while the flights of fancy of his campaign speeches have made way for reality.
On the left, Mr. Obama’s critics note that he has made the most of some of Bush’s controversial policies by keeping military tribunals, refusing to prosecute officials who committed torture and by continuing drone attacks in Pakistan.
On the other hand, Republicans denounce a president who is too soft when it comes to dictatorial regimes and who hesitates for too long before taking action. They reproach him for allowing the deficit to rise and even for putting Americans in danger by trying those accused of the September 11 attacks in a civil court in New York itself.
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