100 Days

Today marks the 100th day of Obama’s Administration. His success or failure is completely subjective. Republicans will tell you that he has failed. They will say he has weakened the country by banning torture, closing Gitmo, and going on an apology tour in Europe and the Americas. Republicans will say he is a tax and spend liberal on steroids, leading this country to bankruptcy and socialism. Democrats will take all the same facts and spin them in a different direction. Democrats will say that he has restored America’s moral leadership in the world from changing the Bush policies of foreign and wartime relations. They will also say that we are now investing in essential infrastructures in the US that will enable us to flourish more than ever. I am going to tell you what I think.

I am sitting here listening to Obama answer his first question at his 3rd primetime conference. Is it just me or does he look tired? I don’t blame him. Has done more in these 100 days than Bush did in his 8 years. One of his very first actions was to begin the closing process of closing Guantanamo Bay along with banning “enhanced interrogation techniques” aka torture. For a country that’s rhetoric suggests we are nation governed by our high standards of morals this is an important step. There is a current debate whether torture leads to reliable information but there is no debate that torture was the number one recruiting tool for terrorists of all sects. Those in the military and intelligence communities that are opposed to torture argue, with merit, that important information can be extracted by humane methods. This coupled with the fact that terrorist recruitment will drop, will keep America safer than increasing the waterboarding spa treatments as posed by the right wing.

Obama went on tour of Europe and the Americas to prove that America can listen and is understanding of America’s mistakes. The old adage that you can learn more from your mistakes than your successes is not lost on our new President. Whether it is our economic failures he is combating or our foreign policy mistakes that have led to nuclear advancements in North Korean and Iran; Obama is listening and acting as not only a scholar but also a leader.

This Presidency has begun to invest in our country. Leading economists agree (despite what Republicans believe) that in order for an economy based on consumption to get out of a recession, the government will have to spend when the private market is not. Obama is giving tax cuts to the largest purchasing power in the world; the American middle class. Obama has also quickly passed a stimulus bill of more than $700B to help jump start the economy with infrastructure measures that will hopefully put people back to work. This will hopefully be the spark that the markets need to get restarted towards positive growth. Obama has also begun investing in the future of our healthcare system. Medicare and Medicaid are major consumers of federal money. Much of this consumption is waste. His investments hopefully will increase efficiency and draw more people into the system. Lowering healthcare costs for all and increasing citizen care will increase disposal income for consumers to further inject into the market.

But are these successes to other besides me? Polls and politics in general suggest that, yes, he has been successful. Some polls show that Obama and the Democrats have a 63% and 51% favorable opinion by the public while the Republicans lag at 39%. Obama is personally more liked than his policies but his popularity gives political strength in passing legislation.

In politics, Obama’s success can also be seen. Tedisco vs. Murphy in NY was a special election to fill the seat of the representative called up to fill Hillary’s seat in the Senate. Murphy (D) narrowly won the election but it was a telltale sign for the Democrats and Obama. The election was during the very stressful time of budget and stimulus package votes. This can be read that even though New Yorkers are divided by Obama’s agenda, they are still willing to put another chess piece on the table for the Democrats. This followed by the switch of Arlen Specter to the Democratic Party further note the country’s move towards the left. Specter was in trouble to win re-election as a Republican in Pennsylvania and his move is most likely selfish in nature. The move does shoe that the Republican Party is beginning to shun and push away moderate Republicans. Specter was one of three Republicans to vote for the stimulus package and now he has switched parties, surprisingly, much to the delight of the Republicans. Specter has realized that his best chance of winning in 2010 is to switch parties. While this is selfish, it is smart. The political tide is moving left and he has recognized this.

In summary, the Democrats, myself, Arlen Specter, Murphy, and the polls easily show that Obama has been very successful in his first 100 days. (to say that any of this policies have been successful is a little presumptuous at this point!)

Ps. Sorry if this was not completely coherent and laden with errors. I did this on the fly. No editing or re-thinking!