A Year Later

After receiving 66% of the vote in Massachusetts in the 2008 Presidential election, President Obama just witnessed a Republican win the Senate seat held for over forty years by the late Ted Kennedy.

Martha Coakley, the Democrat candidate had won the office of Attorney General with 73% of the vote. The Massachusetts seat is the latest to fall after Republican victories in Virgina and New Jersey (and a near win in New York) special elections.

So why has the tide shifted so quickly?

The President's policies are much, much further left than populist opinion.

As many, manny have already asserted, I believe that the administration misinterpretted the election of President Obama as a mandate for left-leaning, socialism ideals and it was not.

There was a mandate against the George W. Bush policies, but Obama has perpetuated many of the same problems despite blaming the previous administration.

The President will not be judged by his intentions, but by his results and the results have not been positive.

Another area of frustration for both party members is the continued lack of unity. President Obama thought and campaigned on putting partisan politics aside and yet there have been instances of heightened exclusion. He overestimated his ability to bring the parties together, in part, by using "campaign speak" and accusations of obstruction rather than negotiate.

Some stats:

54 percent of Americans disapprove of his economic policy, an opinion probably influenced by the 62 percent disapproval rating on our skyrocketing budget deficit. (CNN poll)

51 percents of Americans approve of his foreign policy and 53 percent approve of his handling of the Iraq War. (CNN poll)

59 percent of Americans currently disapprove of so-called "Obamacare." (CNN poll)

A recent Gallup poll indicates that Americans are less sure that Obama will be able to accomplish his goals in almost every area


One year later we are facing similar problems with different faces in the White House. As I have proclaimed, the practical differences between the two parties is "political language" NOT executed policy changes.

One year we have a bigger, more instrusive federal government and the only difference is the letter after most of the names.