THUNDER BAY – The results of the mid-term elections in the United States may be a clear demonstration that Obama-mania is over. Over the past half century, the United States has sought out, in their President the youth, excitement and elequence of President Kennedy who was taken from them in 1963.
The excitement that President Obama brought to the Presidency in 2008 was massive. Two years ago, no one would have thought it could all come crashing down so quickly.
Voters in Canada, and in the United States increasingly demand political leaders who are engaged with them and who they honestly believe have their interests at heart.
After last night’s massive shift in the House of Representatives, it appears the President is in for the political fight of his life in 2012. The President has disengaged with voters.
What went wrong? Perhaps it was that Obama simply does not work hard enough, and people have seen through his rhetoric faster than most of the media? David Letterman, the late night television host commented on Obama’s many vacations saying in a few years Americans would give him a long vacation.
The President has, in his appearances on The Daily Show, and his early moves into “pop culture” has weakened the strength of the Presidency and of the Oval Office.
People want a leader, not a pop star for President.
However the real issue might be the very lofty expectations that Obama claimed he would achieve. During the 2008 election one of the statements made by Obama was a comment on how history would view his presidency:
“I’m absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs for the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last best hope on earth.”
The results in the mid-term elections show that this was the moment that President Obama’s lack of effort and progress were pounded hard by American voters.
Is it the end of Obama?
Only if the American President doesn’t take the message sent by voters very seriously. Re-building the coalition that elected Obama is likely to be a very difficult task. The only thing that could make it easier would be if the Republicans turn hard to the right in an effort to capture Tea Party supporters.
If the GOP stays the course, and the Democrats and President Obama fail to listen and engage with Americans, 2012 will be an interesting time in American politics.
James Murray