The Rise and Fall of Obama

The Rise and Fall of Obama.

In nature, everything that rises, falls: throw an apple into the air and it will fall to the floor; launch a rocket into the sky and it will crash onto the ground, become the most popular incoming president into office ever and your leave office as one of the most unpopular. This article charts the rise and fall of Obama's popularity as the American and world-wide public began to realise "there's no hope and change, things just stay the same."

The Rise

Towards the end of President George Bush's tenure, the United States of America had fallen into a national mindset of darkness. The public strongly criticised the Bush administration and presidency over its handling of Hurricane Katrina and its handling of the economic recession (that we are still in). They argued that the government did not prepare well enough in advance for the hurricane, or well enough in the aftermath of the devastating effects. The public felt that Bush was responsible for the state of the economy, and those who had lost their jobs or were unemployed felt resentful. Americans, by and large, were unhappy in the direction they believed the country was heading. During these events Bush's public opinion sharply declined and the American people pleaded for "hope and change,” for a better future and that America would be heading towards the right direction, and this is where Barack Hussein Obama (henceforth known simply as Obama) cashed in.

Obama appeared on the scene like a thousand points of light, displaying charm, charisma, and being a natural leader. His slogans and mantras were also simplistic and conveyed the right positive attitudes, "yes we can!" and "hope and change you can believe in."Obama's election campaign focused on giving promises that the American public wanted to hear and empowering them: nuclear proliferation, withdrawing the troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, and recovering from the economy recession. Obama was lauded for his brilliant oratory skills and speeches, being crucial in momentum to help Obama win the election and become the 44th President of the United States of America on a wave of mass hysteria and wild expectation. The question was asked: Obama talked the talk, but could he walk the talk?

Nobel Prize

Like all rises in nature, the upward momentum was achieved by a “pushing” force as Obama's presidency received an early boost when he was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2009. Obama won the Nobel peace prize according to the Nobel Committee due to "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples"; all this before Obama had completed a year in office, and had made any concrete decisions in his foreign policy.

The prevailing view was one of a sceptical manner, Paul Reynolds of BBC News summed up the majority viewpoint when he said: "the award is certainly unexpected and might be regarded as more of an encouragement for intentions than a reward for achievements." Such a view was backed up when the Norwegian Committee released a statement, "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future."

Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the same reasons as being elected President: he offered change and hope for the future. Obama could certainly talk the talk after talking himself to the Nobel Prize, but could he actually live up to these slogans? Could he live up to the hype that he had promoted and established?

The Fall

Like all falls in nature, the downward spiral was forced by a heavy burden upon him: the expectation that followed him. Obama's popularity was always going to be difficult to maintain with the lofty promises he had made, and Obama now had to deliver on them. Ironically his own promises that successfully catapulted him into becoming the President could effectively be the promises that make his reign a failure. One of his policies was to stabilise the economy, it is the most important factor we believe in contributing to Obama’s fall, it is now that we turn to it.

Economy

Obama promised the American public that the unemployment rate would decrease and those that lost their jobs would be back into a work in no time. The problem for Obama is that this promise has yet to materialise. Recent polls show that 26% of Americans believe that Obama is “a great deal” to blame for the current economic crisis, and many feel that Obama’s regulations make it extremely difficult for unemployed citizens to become self-employed and start a small business. If anything Obama is increasing employment and recent trend analysts, especially highly-reputable Gerald Celente, believe the unemployment rate to have shot up to 20% and increasing. Obama signed an economic stimulus package that was aimed at recovering the economy from the worldwide recession, but the success has been negligible if any, and even Obama himself admits that progress has been "painfully slow." But painfully slow isn't good enough for Obama especially after he made sweeping lofty claims in his presidential elections to quickly improve the economy. The American public are frustrated with the economy and, once again, are angry about how the government have handled the recession.

His fall is not just due to his handling of the economy; a large percentage of American’s also believe that Obama is to blame for his inability to show leadership in the BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill and combating climate change; his controversial healthcare bill and his insistent drone bombing of Pakistani villages (making a mockery of his Nobel Peace Prize.) It is telling that his most positive contribution to his presidency is the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize that many believed he did not earn or deserve, and that he received for his skilled rhetoric. It seems to be dawning on the worldwide public that the hysteria that Obama managed to generate was his ability to talk well, and make unrealistic promises (that could only be believed because of his brilliant oratory) that preyed on the vulnerabilities that the American people and the world are currently facing. As American people are finding out, its deeds not words that count.

The Mid-term Elections, or "the half-time outcome"

Recently, as of November, the US has been holding the mid-term elections, which decides the balance of power in the Congress over the next two years. The balance of power is an important issue, since the balance of power correlates to the ease of legislation to be passed by the President. For instance, if the Obama's democratic party holds all the power, by having the majority of the seats, in Congress, legislation can be passed without much opposition as there are not many Republicans to oppose it, and if the balance of power is even between the two political party's, legislation is harder to pass as there are more Republicans who can oppose it; legislation can only be passed if a majority vote to do so.

Congress consists of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives; with the House of Representatives, the bigger house of the two, is seen as representing the mood of the nation. The mid-term elections have been dubbed through the years as an "unofficial appraisal" of the current presidency. So, obviously, the mid-term election results, especially the House of Representatives, convey the state of the public endorsing the President.

The Democrats going into the mid-term elections held the majority in both houses, but after the mid-term elections this all changed. Before the mid-terms the Democrats held 59 seats in the Senate, 39 seats in the House of Representatives. Post mid-term elections and a lot had changed: the Republicans made staggering gains as they won the House of Representatives and large gains in control of the Senate, however, the Republicans still have the majority of this house although it has been reduced.

The Republicans won 60 seats in the House of Representatives; the second biggest swing of seats in mid-term election history; the highest swing being 75 seats and the average swing being 25 seats. In the Senate, the Republicans gained seats, but failed to reach the 10 seats that would confer holding the majority in the Senate.

This represents just how far public confidence has fallen in Obama's ability to govern the country, especially after the wave of hysteria that followed him as he preached the "hope and change" that beckoned him into presidency. His presidency was promised to be a "dawn of a new day" (also an occult agenda), but the stark reality is that the United States of America and its people finds itself struggling to get out of the darkness.

By Andrew Field