Broken Promises

When in 2007 a certain individual named Obama set out on the path to conquer the White House, he had one message: change. He promised his voters to change the way in which things were run in Washington: no more party clashes that ended up in enmity, no more shabby compromises. After three years of Obama’s presidency, we can establish: Almost nothing has changed about this. Today, Obama is just as much a member of the Washington political system as every one of his predecessors. So why four more years of Barack Obama, who disappointed so many of his voters?

No president has ever entered into office with such high hopes and such bad starting conditions as Obama has. He himself is responsible for the superhuman expectations; the rest was not his fault. Two inherited wars, the economic and financial crisis that started in the USA, the disaster of the exploded B.P. oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, the escalating problems in the Middle East and in North Africa — all these have restricted his chances of pursuing bolder, more proactive policies.

Still, he passed health care reform and pulled the economy out of the recession with state interventions. One argument in his campaign for reelection will be that he needs another four years to fulfill all of his promises. The strongest argument, however, will come from the Republican side: Until now, they have not been able to find an individual that could seriously compete with this charismatic president.