First 100 Days in Office- Barack Obama, the Man of Change

We just cannot seem to get enough of Barack Obama. We have seen how the junior Illinois senator who had become America’s first black president has come along and seemingly energized the entire political scenario world over. Yet, how much of this is entirely his doing, and how much of it is merely a matter of timing?

Before Obama came along, political news’ appeal was on a general decline. A succession of events, including the unpopular Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and the usual Washington political scandals started leaving a bad aftertaste in the public’s appetite for political news. Sure, we all love a juicy scandal, and it is an injustice that many citizens are still unable to carry on with their lives years after Katrina swept through, but the truth was, there was just nothing new, nothing original, nothing unique.

After all, what’s another unpopular war in a distant land to citizens nowadays? The war in Iraq does not even approach the scale of our involvement in Vietnam, both in casualties and in years. Bush being a lame-duck president with one of the lowest popularity ratings? Come on now, as much as most of us might be happy that Bush is leaving, it does not compare to how relieved the entire nation was when Nixon left the White House.

As a nation, we have been tried and tested. Been there, done that. We thought we wanted something different, we wanted something new.

And he showed up. Obama – someone different, he’s of mixed parentage; someone new – a former US senator, supposedly uninitiated in Washington’s ways. Calculative and ambitious – no other words describe a single term senator with nothing but a thin political resume as an Illinois state senator better, he capitalized on the current political situation, entering the race and then upstaging Hillary Clinton.

Throned the US presidentship and he is Barack Husein Obama, the visionary, more than just a man, and definitely more than a woman.

With the ‘message of hope’, Obama arrived and will complete 100 days in office on April 29th. Uhh!

Obama has been attributed the qualities of so many endearing American legends, including Abraham Lincoln (allegedly similar background and home state, Illinois) Ronald Reagan (alleged bi-partisanship) and John Kennedy (alleged good looks and oratory skills). Oh yes, and who can forget his mixed John Kennedy’s religion issue cum Martin Luther King’s moment as well, with his very own version of “I have a dream” speech.

Jimmy Carter too, ran for President in a similar situation as Obama. There was another unpopular war – its name was Vietnam, there were high oil prices – which have climbed even higher now, and there had been a very unpopular president – his name was Nixon.

Carter then, like Obama now, sensed the mood of the public and its need for something new, something different.

Yet why is this so important? Why should we be afraid if Obama turns out to be like Carter? One simple answer – Iran.

Imagine, an entire nation, or even nations, held hostage, this time by a nuclear Iran. Would Barack Obama be like Carter and try to placate Iran to secure the hostages’ lives or would he take a totally different direction?

Most importantly, would we even want to give our President Obama a chance to decide?