Government progress: slow in success, still positive in the eyes of the public
By Michelle Tabatabai-ShahabEditor-in-Chief, The VOICE
A year after President Barack Obama was elected by the registered voters of America what has he accomplished for this country?
Under the watchful eye of the media there will be heavy ridicule, political assessments, and personal judgments made about the progress that Obama has made within his first year in office.
Within the House and Senate the Democratic health care plans are still under assessment, by the close of this week we were expected to have a clearer sense of where the Republicans stand in an alternative health care plan.
Election Day 2009 will be compared with Election Day 2008. A survey conducted by CNN shows the percentage of Obama's progress thus far. Obama's approval rating shows 54 percent which is nearly identical to the 53 percent of the vote he won a year ago.
"The survey suggests that the president's approval rating remains the same even though most Americans still disapprove of how Obama has been handling the economy, health care, Afghanistan, Iraq, unemployment, illegal immigration and the federal budget deficit."
How does Obama retain his popularity with American citizens even with the negativity surrounding his progress with political issues?
It is said that Obama inspires confidence in the public.
Some say that Obama is a strong leader who is honest and trustworthy and a majority of people surveyed said that they like that he is not a typical politician.
Also asked in the survey: "Do you believe that Obama has a clear plan for solving the country's problems?" A majority did not believe that Obama had a clear plan, the only negative view of him.
"I think it's a great overstatement to say this is a referendum on President Obama," said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a former Republican National Committee chairman. "But his policies have had a lot of effect on people's thinking."
This week, there will be heavy attention on how Obama handles the issues with Afghanistan, since candidate Abdullah Abdullah ducked out of the Afghan presidential runoff; the major question that rests on everybody's mind is the U.S. troop levels.
"The longer the decision hangs, the more jeopardy and the more danger our troops on the ground there are in the middle of," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, explained Sunday on "State of the Union." "We've had the highest casualty troops in years over the last month or two. Why? Because of all the uncertainty around what the president is going to decide."
In response to the casualty among troops and its connection with Obama's procrastination, the White House has released information that negates a connection with the troop's debate and the increase in casualties,
It should be noted that Obama will not be rushed into making his decisions with regards to America's military force.
In a final note, American citizens should keep in mind that just three days after winning the election, Obama said that he would succeed "if we put aside partisanship and politics and work together as one nation. That's what I intend to do."
A question for you to mull over is: Do you think that the president can unite the country?
In fairness, Americans have the right to think for themselves, speak for themselves and form their own opinions.
These rights were provided by the Founding Fathers that signed the Constitution, America's main contract.
While a survey said that there is 51 percent of Americans that say Obama will succeed in uniting the country and ending partisanship there is still 48 percent that do not see it happening.
What is difficult about a promise like this is that it only takes one person to call Obama a failure on this task.
Please send comments to michelle@gccvoice.com
