In the end, the voters sided with Obama. I for one think, whoever the Republican candidate was, was going to lose. Why? George W. Bush. The campaign wasn’t just about a vision for our nation; it was a continuation of a referendum of the Bush Administration.
In several days, President Obama will be marking his first 100 days in office. How is he doing? It depends on who you ask. Overall though, his approval ratings are in the 60 percentile (pollster.com).
He has had some successes; the stimulus bill was passed within less than 30 days of him becoming president. Remember, I am talking about a bill being passed and signed, not the merits of the bill, which can be the subject of a future op-ed. His handling of the Somali pirates, his debut on the world stage.
Has the president had his stumbles? Absolutely, with various nominees for senior positions in the administration have withdrawn from consideration and key posts are still vacant. The release of some of the interrogation memos and the fighting between he and members of his own party regarding whether or not to go after the author’s of the memos that gave the legal opinion allowing enhanced interrogation techniques.
There was speculation by a lot of political pundits that the special congressional election in New York would be a referendum of the President’s performance. Although the Democratic candidate won in a Republican district, I disagree. I don’t believe the campaign was a benchmark for the President. It is way too early to link the President’s performance to a congressional election.
According to some polls 28% of Republicans approve of President Obama’s performance. In addition, approximately 56% of declined to states approve of his performance.
I am a firm believer that the declined to states decide elections. They supported the Republicans and President Bush in 2004 and supported Democrats in 2006 and 2008. The simple fact is no one knows who they will support in 2010.
Between now and the 2010 elections is a life time in campaigns. The 2010 elections will be the first opportunity to gauge the president’s performance. Think of Presidents Truman, Reagan and Clinton, in which during their respective administrations, they observed their party lose control of at least one of the houses of the Congress.
As for those of you who didn’t vote for the President. You shouldn’t be surprised by the change of direction in our country. Isn’t this what he campaigned on? At the end of the day two candidates laid out their respective visions for our country and Obama won.
There is an old saying, “Elections have consequences.”
Michael Cruz- commentary
Mike Cruz is in the Legal profession and active locally with the Democratic Party. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.