So, it’s August and Barack Obama’s approval rating is barely above 50% and only 40% of Americans think the country is heading in the right direction. The President’s legislative agenda – to say nothing of its eventual cost – is frightening folk and the days of “No Drama Obama” seem like a story from the distant past, totally at odds with the current febrile political mood in the United States. No wonder the traditional comparisons with poor old Jimmy Carter are appearing. Already.
Has the new President bitten off more than he can chew? Plenty of pundits seem to think so. Is he betraying his promise to the American people? Peggy Noonan, for one, seems to think so. And perhaps she is right. Certainly, governing is more difficult than campaigning. But the instant obituaries may be premature.
Taking office in the midst of a full-scale banking crisis and an alarmingly sharp recession, Obama passed his stimulus bill and embarked on two major, difficult, legislative projects: cap and trade for climate change and healthcare reform.
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