In the six months since the high-flying oratory of his January inaugural address to the earth-bound realities of his July poll numbers, President Barack Obama has seen mixed success on a flurry of early promises.
Much hinges on the next several weeks, which could decide the fate of his signature proposal on health care reform and whether his costly stimulus gamble on the economy pays off.
At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs declined to issue a six-month self-assessment of the administration. The president’s job approval rating has dropped more than 10 percentage points to 56 percent since taking office, according to Gallup.
“I think he did tell you that he was not under the illusion that change was going to come to this town easily,” Gibbs said. “I don’t think the president is ever going to be satisfied.”
On jobs and the economy, Obama said at his inauguration that, “The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth.”
While job creation, the yardstick by which Obama said his economic policies should be measured, has yet to take off, the president expressed guarded optimism that only modest economic shrinkage in the second quarter of this year signaled a turnaround.
Eager for some good news to vindicate the $787 billion stimulus bill, Obama said his policies are showing results.
“The economy has done measurably better than we had thought, better than expected,” he said.
After campaigning on a promise to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Obama said at his inauguration that, “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” adding that, “we are ready to lead once more.”
But the White House recently dismayed civil libertarians by delaying a report on what to do with dangerous prisoners deemed ineligible for release from Guantanamo, raising concerns the United States may continue a policy of indefinite detention.
It’s unclear whether the administration will meet its one-year deadline to close the prison — a policy laid out in Obama’s first executive order.
On foreign policy, Obama has made progress on a vow to reach out to the Muslim world, but the effectiveness of his leadership is unclear following largely passive responses to a coup in Honduras, an election crisis in Iran and lack of progress on Middle East peace.
Obama campaigned on a promise to change the tone in Washington, and said in his inaugural address that, “We come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”
True bipartisanship, however, has proven elusive for Obama, who has had to rely on his own, increasingly fractious party to push through his legislative successes.
“He didn’t expect to get 100 percent of the people 100 percent of the time; he’s been able to work with Democrats and Republicans,” Gibbs said. “I mean, you know, it takes two to tango.”
