A Most Unsure Path

Hope, change, a new beginning, these are tag lines we’ve been hearing for almost two years now. These are the word waves Barrack Obama used to ride to victory over his rival, John McCain, in the 2008 presidential election. That’s when the problems began. Many promises were made to the people of the United States; reformed healthcare, reformed finances, a quick fix to the economy, bipartisanship, transparency and many other assurances.
The people of the United States are a particular people; they hold their politicians to their words, unlike other countries. Obama portrayed himself as an enormous, almost god-like figure that would save us from calamity; he used images of Greek pillars and personalized symbols with huge crowds of adorning fans to reinforce this image.
To quote Ivan Vanko from Iron Man 2, “If you could make god bleed, people would cease to believe in him,” this is precisely the situation that came up to plaque Obama. The vengeful GOP still reeling from the catastrophic defeat in the election, resolved to rout Obama’s first major bill, healthcare reform. Though the health care bill was passed, it was a crippling victory for Obama. It showed a non-unified Democratic party (many Democrats voted no on the bill); it also illustrated how Obama broke his promises on bipartisanship, and transparency.
Obama continued not to work with the opposing party or show the working of his administration to the public. He also began stripping away power from congress by appointing over 32 “Czars” that presided over everything, from transportation to global warming. These czars take their orders directly from the president, and the public and congress have no say, or influence whatsoever over them. http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/29391/
If history shows anything, it’s that the American people enjoy taking part in their government, and when they are barred from doing so, it’s not pretty (American Revolution anyone?) The angry citizens have found a home in the defeated but still powerful GOP and other third party groups, such as, the Libertarians or in-party groups such as, the Tea Party or Neo-Cons.
With more and more independents and Democrats withdrawing their support of Obama and his personal approval ratings plummeting, the GOP and its leaders have smelled blood. What has facilitated and energized Obama’s opponent’s is the November 2nd elections fast approaching. Conservatives and independents alike feel it is a chance for much needed change, much as Obama’s supporters felt the November 4th 2008 elections, was the time to get rid of Bush.
According to recent polls, the Republicans are posed to take back the House of Representatives and gain seats in the Senate (there is a slight chance of taking back the senate) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101024/ts_alt_afp/usvote, this would be disastrous for Obama and his agenda. The Republicans have waited for this moment and will seek revenge for the times Obama steamrolled them in passing his bills.
All in all, it will be a politically, bloody, election, and whether the Republicans win or lose the House or Senate, they can not help but gain seats in both Houses. This insures that Obama’s, very nearly, filibuster-proof majority, is gone forever and Obama will be forced to tread a most uncomfortable and unsure path.