Obama in 2011

I am not so optimistic as to believe that hope will always triumph over fear, nor am I cynical enough to believe the opposite is true.

So here I sit not watching the State of the Union address (I’ll catch it later during one of the many times it will be replayed) thinking about how I feel about Obama these days. I’ve supported Obama since before the Democratic convention in 2008, and I haven’t regretted it since (though I have occasionally wondered if perhaps Hillary Clinton might’ve been a better choice), and will probably support him again in 2012. But not without a few reservations.

Obama’s military policies really haven’t differed much from George W. Bush’s. While we may have a clearer idea of what his “exit strategy” will be in Afghanistan, I don’t see that exit happening any time soon. You can argue whether or not this is a good thing, but I’m not going to take a position here since I can see value in arguments on both sides of this issue. My point is that Obama’s “change we can believe in” hasn’t changed things all that much.

His stand on presidential power and privilege isn’t much changed from Bush’s, either. The previous administration pushed back the restraining wall of the Constitution much farther than I was comfortable living with, but Obama has been slow (or even obstructionist) in trying to reverse that trend. Perhaps it was naive of me to hope that any sitting President would try to reign in Presidential authority. Perhaps I should have realized that that just doesn’t happen.

And as far as health care goes, Obama’s changes aren’t as sweeping as either he or his detractors would have you think. It’s still a system run by and for the profitable health care industry, and that is precisely what needed to be changed but wasn’t changed, just regulated. Barely regulated.

Still, I’ve got to hand it to Obama for the way he managed the “lame duck” session of Congress, that time when one party (the Democrats in this case) that has been voted out of power traditionally sits on its hands and waits for the victors to come in and claim their seats. Much to everyone’s surprise, Obama and the Democrats were able to accomplish more in this session than a majority party usually accomplishes in any given year. (Of course, if you’re on the other side of the fence then it probably doesn’t seem like an accomplishment to celebrate, but that’s not the point. The democrats moved their agenda ahead significantly, whether you agree with that agenda or not.)

All in all, I see Obama as a flawed President but not a bad one. I will probably support him again in 2012, even with my reservations, unless another candidate steps forward and is able to bring hope with them. You see, hope is the key. I will vote for hope over fear any day. The only Democrat I see that could do that is Hillary Clinton, and I don’t think she’s likely to break ranks with the administration and run again. And I don’t see a single Republican on the horizon that hasn’t played the fear card, or dealt the fear hand, or stacked the deck so that the fear card seems to come up no matter how you cut it.

Hope trumps fear. At least it should.

The Blues Viking

The opinions here expressed are mine and if you don’t like them you can get your own damn blog.