Give Obama Time

What can he really do? When blowing out the candle, the “Yes we can” president did not really have the hoped-for anniversary. If one believes his detractors, since being in the Oval Office, the brilliant campaign orator has not measured up to his promises. In the United States, between quasi-racist arguments and partisan political hysteria, the ultra-conservatives have retaken the bull by the horns.

In 12 months, however, Barack Obama has established himself as an historic president. He is the architect of health reform that America would not even have dared to draft a few years ago. Also, without pushing it, he has changed the image the world held of a leading world power, which was weakened by eight years of unbridled and unilateral Bushism. Obama’s America has returned to the consort of nations as a partner open to dialogue and turned toward the future. Of course, not everything is resolved – far from it. But who could really have believed that Obama would work miracles over Afghanistan, Iraq, the economic crisis or the environment in just a few months?

At the White House, he declines the modus operandi that was his for three decades – that of the social worker from Chicago and the legislator from Illinois, who moved through negotiation and the search for consensus to arrive at a solution. The break does not have the easy sparkle of Sarkozyism, but will be measured in the long run. Nobel Peace Prize winner in a time of war, Obama was the first to underscore that he did not deserve the honor and that he should be judged based on his actions. Let’s give him a little more time.