The Red and the Blue

Tomorrow marks the 100th day of Obama’s presidency.

As someone who worked on his campaign from February 2007 up through election day, I still have a hard time believing he won. Obama began his campaign primarily as the anti-war candidate, the Washington outsider who would power-wash the government of corruption and secrecy with…change.

Those commentators and students of politics who know how Washington functioned worried a bit about how Obama was going to enact this sweeping reform if elected. Was he going to pull a Carter and attempt to completely sideline Congress? Emulate Bill Clinton and pitch heated battles with Republicans? Fortunately it doesn’t look like Republicans are going to stage any kind of revolution akin to 1994 beyond marching around with signs, so Obama is probably safe on that front.  Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of Obama’s first 100 Days:

• Ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay
• Worked with Congress to pass a $787 billion economic stimulus plan
• Reversed the ban on federally funded stem cell research and announced the largest increase in research and development investment in American history
• Began efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons, indicating a change from the line of foreign policy inherent to American society since President Truman and the beginning of the Cold War

There are lists all over the internet about the good, the bad and the confusing actions Obama has taken in the last few months. Various websites and news organizations have been taking polls—that’s all they really know how to do after that marathon of an election—trying to gauge public opinion on the matter.  The top three words used to describe Obama’s presidency by the public are “intelligent, good and socialist,” in that order. The socialist term shouldn’t be that surprising, since it seems to be the only idea all Republicans can say something negative about.

Despite this, Obama’s approval rate is at 62% according to RCP, and as Colin noted yesterday, Republican Party identification is at a 20 year low.  I am incredibly impressed and pleased with Obama’s performance so far. I certainly do not agree with everything that’s happened—he should have let the AIG bonus issue burn itself out—but Obama’s performance has beyond compensated me for 2 years of unpaid campaign work.

Lauren Burdette Uncategorized