There are many who are still perplexed about how Barack Obama ascended to the U.S. presidency. They will have four years to figure it out. Meanwhile, the unprecedented outpouring of adoration for the 44th president is unabated and unapologetic. One cannot help but feel the energy been generated by the millions of Americans who have a vested stake in Obama and a hope that his new administration will resuscitate a floundering nation.
Are we setting Obama up for failure? Public expectations for his performance in office far have exceeded those for any president in a generation.
A recent poll by the Associated Press found that 93 percent of those surveyed believe Obama will be an “above average” or “outstanding” president. Seventy-one percent believe the economy will likely improve in Obama’s first year, while 65 percent said unemployment will go down. Sixty-three percent were looking for their personal financial situations to improve. Nearly 70 percent approve of Obama’s handling of his transition to the presidency.
Obama faces the worse economy since the Depression and one that has crippled the world economy. He faces U.S. military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan and numerous other flammable situations that the U.S. helps to fan. He will be challenged by a failed foreign policy that has created more enemies than you can shake an F-16 fighter jet at.
On the domestic front, basic human rights such as housing, education, health care and food have been terribly eroded. The nation is on the precipice of self-destruction and in need of a hero.
Obama has asked that we help him to perfect our union. The answers to the difficult questions of the day will be elusive and hope will falter.
Those who are bitterly holding onto their guns and religion will multiply in the coming months and we will see a white backlash so intense that this generation will forget they every talked about post-racialism. Patience will shrink as fast as jobs and a healthy dose of scapegoating will increase internal violence.
President Obama is charismatic, intelligent, creative and grounded, but he will not operate in a vacuum. He is working in a swamp of a system where greed, corruption and betrayal await him.
The people who have worked hard to be a part of the American dream have awakened from their nightmare. We have found that this government has reneged on all its guarantees. No jobs, no money, no homes, no health care, no pensions, no retirement, no rights – no, no, no.
We better realize that we must set our own course for recovery and sustainability. There may be a few good souls on Capitol Hill but if it was a critical mass of good and honorable public servants, this country wouldn’t be in the pathetic shape it is now.
It is the dawning of a new day, and we have every right to hope for a brighter tomorrow. It will take strategic thinking and collective planning to pull the reins up on this one. It’s not about deifying Obama; it’s about how we all work together towards that more perfect union.