So, let me see if I have
this straight.
One year ago, the Democrats
won commanding victories resulting in control of the presidency and
lopsided majorities in the House and Senate.
One year ago, the Republican
brand was so weak that the party was on death watch, literally capable
of sliding into the history books alongside the Whigs and the Federalists.
MADISON, WI -- One year ago today, Barack Obama had redefined American
electioneering to such an extent that it was possible to believe that
his transformational campaign would lead to a transformational
presidency.
After all, he had already changed most of what America "knew" about politics.
The freshman senator from Illinois was not only winning an election for the presidency of the United States on November 4, 2008.
Yeah, I'm disappointed, too. I thought we were sweeping into power; I
thought change meant Change. I believed all that talk about another
First 100 Days, a la Roosevelt. Well, that didn't happen. The question
is, is this as good as it gets from Obama, or is he pacing himself? He
may have a four and eight-year plan and they included a first year of
just gettin' to know you and not gonna rock the boat too much. Well,
Mission Accomplished on that.
It's time for your close-up, Mr. President.
Now that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.) has announced he'll try to push through a health care reform
bill with a public option, liberals are turning their focus - and their
frustrations - on Barack Obama, the man who brought them to the
outskirts of the progressive promise land.
I was dismayed when I heard Barack Obama was given the Nobel peace prize. A shock, really, to think that a president carrying on two wars would be given a peace prize.
Until I recalled that Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry
Kissinger had all received Nobel peace prizes.
WASHINGTON - Since before taking
office, U.S. President Barack Obama has been no stranger to being in
the crosshairs of Republican pundits who have accused him of everything
from bring a "secret communist" to a tax-and-spend liberal who would
oversee huge expansions in the federal government.
But a growing voice of
criticism here in Washington is Democrats who feel the president has
failed to deliver on a large number of the campaign promises he made
during the run-up to the November election.
On the eve of the G-20 summit last week, President Barack Obama gave a long interview to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in which he said that even during his days as a community organizer in Chicago he was never a big fan of mass protests.
For those of us who care desperately about the climate, President Obama's speech
on Tuesday-the first to the world body by this most admired of world
leaders-was a dud, a towering disappointment. Coming at the beginning
of what the UN has dubbed "climate week," the speech marked the
beginning of a three-month push towards the global climate conference
at Copenhagen.
No matter what the facts are, some liberal activists and leaders
persist in seeing President Obama as a principled progressive reformer
who lives and breathes the campaign rhetoric about "change you can
believe in."
When he compromises, it's not Obama's fault - it's the opposition.
Retreat is never a sell-out but a shrewd tactic, part of some secret
long-range strategy for triumphant reform.
He's been in the White House eight months. It's time for activists take
a harder look at Obama. And a more assertive posture toward him.
