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OBAMA: FIRST 100 DAYS
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by
Sarah Veale
May.7-13,2009 |
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Now that the last streamer has been cleaned off Washington’s
National Mall and the ballyhoo of inauguration is but a memory,
how U.S. president Barack Obama actually fares as America’s
leader is coming into focus.
Certainly the hopes were high. Obama glided into office on a
wave of change and empowerment that told people they, too, had
a stake in Washington and that, yes, this time things would be
different. The American people (and to an extent, the rest of the
world) did not just expect Obama to deliver on his word, they fully
believed he could unwaveringly do so.
But election campaigns are built on promises –– promises
sometimes kept, but more often forgotten. With a self–imposed
bar set fantastically high, is the Obama administration living up to
its goals?
“He certainly has come forward,” says Kenneth Sherman,
vice–chair of Democrats Abroad. He points to successfully passed
TARP legislation to aid the financial sector and the stimulus
package as just some of the early – and major – accomplishments
achieved by the Obama administration. “I don’t know what any
one person could do…and still have the confidence of the
majority of his party.”
Sherman contrasts Obama’s measures with those of his
predecessor: “I can hardly remember what Bush did in the first 60
days.”
The talk of presidential achievements often centres on the
first few months in office. But for Obama, he will likely be
remembered for his first week as Commander–in–Chief, one
which overturned Republican executive orders and repositioned
the U.S. internationally as a more diplomatic, more engaged
superpower.
For starters, he shored up the left by overturning Bush’s ban
on funding for NGOs that provide abortion counseling. He
reopened discussions with formally admonished countries like
Syria and eased travel and trade restrictions to Cuba. (Even Hugo
Chavez was impressed by Obama’s willingness to reach out – the
temperamental Venezuelan leader now says he’ll reestablish
diplomatic ties with Washington).
For sure there’s a shift in the Oval Office. Obama has even
taken steps to close down the hallmark of Bush’s War on Terror,
Guantanamo Bay.
“Guantanamo is certainly a massive change,” Sherman says.
“In terms of world–wide opinion, in terms of foreign policy, that
was a huge immediate step that needed to be made.”
Not everyone thinks Obama’s doing a bang up job. While
there are numerous visible signs of a new approach to
governmental matters, Obama has also been accused of propping
up failed Republican policies. He may be loosening up on
Guantanamo Bay, but critics say he’s still supporting black sites
and sketchy practices he’d once condemned as a legal black hole.
Criticizing his decision to invoke executive privilege and deny
military detainees in Afghanistan a right to legal challenges, Salon
contributor Glenn Greenwald observed in his column, “The Obama
DOJ [Department of Justice] is now squarely to the Right of an
extremely conservative, pro–executive–power, Bush 43–appointed
judge on issues of executive power and due–process–less
detentions.”
Obama has had to make compromises. On Iraq, the biggest
concern of Americans before the economy took precedence, he’s
extended the timetable for withdrawal from an initial 16 months
to 19 months (a projected home date of August 2010 for many
soldiers).
But the draw down in the Middle East will most certainly be
offset by the administration’s plans to scale–up in Afghanistan – a
fight some are predicting to be “Obama’s Vietnam.” An early
decision will see another 17,000 troops deployed to
Afghanistan’s southern Helmand Province, and it’s expected
Obama will make the region his most important military focus.
Foreign policy aside, it was Obama’s veneer of bi–
partisanship cooperation which underlined his message of hope
and cooperation. On this measure of bi–partisanship, Obama’s
good intentions have come up against the reality’s concrete wall.
He’s been able to bring opposition Democrats into the fold, but
swaying Republicans – who overwhelmingly opposed his stimulus
proposal – has been tricky. Is this the man, so famous during the
campaign for “reaching across the aisle” we had hoped to see?
“The question is: what is bi–partisanship and how does one
measure it? At one level, I think he has created a civilized tone on
working with the opposition party, which is an absolute first
step,” Sherman says. Obama has extended the olive branch to
Republicans on several occasions. But for the most part, they
aren’t biting. Even high profile chits like cabinet appoints haven’t
swayed GOP heavies such as Judd Gregg, a Republican Senator
who was nominated for Commerce Secretary but withdrew, citing
political differences. “He’s tried to bring them [Republicans] into
the administration,” Sherman says. “Some he has, Gregg he
couldn’t.”
Those he could get into the cabinet are a variety of old faces:
Clinton loyalists, Washington old–timers, and even Bush
administration appointees, like Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
For all the promised change, it sure looks a lot like ho–hum
politics–as–usual.
Sherman defends Obama’s decisions, even the Gates
appointment, as being pragmatic. “A lot of people have had
experience in the Clinton administration, but that was a
successful administration,” Sherman says, adding that Obama’s is
simply moving to the centre. “I think they’re, for the most part,
quality appointments. They do reflect political realities. It’s a
centrist cabinet, but a well–experienced cabinet.”
This experience isn’t counting for much with Republicans,
who feel Obama’s first 100 days suffer from a severe case of bad
management. They say Obama has expanded White House
bureaucracy and call his budget irresponsible. “This budget taxes
too much, spends too much, borrows too much,” California
Republican Dan Lungren said of Obama’s proposed budget. “It is,
in fact, a repudiation of the very goals he has established.”
Obama’s spending plan, which increases taxes on those in
the highest income brackets and sets aside $634 billion over the
next ten years to overhaul America’s health care system, is
projected to push the U.S. into a $6.9 trillion deficit over the next
decade. And that’s a conservative estimate. A report from the
Congressional Budget Office predicts the actual debt level will be
$1.5 trillion higher than planned – a number not likely to defuse
the Democrats’ “tax–and–spend” reputation. Obama says he’s
merely dealing with a bad situation – that the Republicans left the
nation broke and broken. Change, in other words, is expensive
and comes slowly.
Despite all this, most Americans think Obama is doing a
pretty good job. In a poll released earlier this month by the New
York Times, 66 per cent said they approve of the way he’s
governing. Obama also enjoys similarly high approval numbers
when it comes to Iraq, the economy, and foreign policy.
Meanwhile, the Republicans aren’t wooing converts with their
bellyaching. Perhaps mirroring Bush’s outgoing approval rating,
they only receive the support of 31 per cent of the public’s
support.
“The electorate really gave Barack a mandate, and not a small
mandate,” Sherman says of Obama’s need to govern in
accordance with his platform. “He has to do what he said he was
going to do for the voters and for the country.”
The first 100 days haven’t been perfect, but they have been
substantial. Whether it lasts for the duration of this presidency
will be the true test of Obama’s mettle.
“He’s delivering at the moment,” Sherman says. “Now let’s
just see how sustainable that is.” V [SARAH VEALE]
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