Post by violet on Nov 11, 2012 9:32:43 GMT 10
Obama ran as a two-term president, and has the potential to make the next four years transcendent. But only, as Ellis Cose explains, if he rolls up his sleeves and gets to the hard work of governing.
From the moment of Barack Obama's election in 2008, one thing was clear - his pre-eminent legacy, in the eyes of many thoughtful observers, would have nothing to do with his actual accomplishments.
Simply by winning, he torpedoed the notion that colour remained an insurmountable barrier to accomplishment in a nation that had once deemed blacks fit for little more than picking cotton.
In embracing the symbolic potency of his candidacy - he was not just a candidate but a totem of progress and a beacon of hope - Obama rendered the normal way of assessing chiefs of state irrelevant.
The process of governing - and the deadweight of a crippling recession - brought Obama crashing to earth. With four years under his belt, and a record to attack and defend, his candidacy was no longer simply about symbolism, but results. And judged against the impossible expectations that Obama himself had fostered, the president inevitably came up short
But now, having won re-election, he has four more years to demonstrate that he is more than a poster child for the societal progress epitomised by his election.
That's not to say his first term was unremarkable. He delivered on healthcare, sanctioned the killing of Osama bin Laden, and rode to the rescue of America's automobile industry. He also credibly dealt with an economic crisis unprecedented in recent memory.
But more intriguing than what he has already accomplished is the promise he still represents. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg deemed him solid enough on climate issues to win his endorsement. Yet it was hard to see much evidence of that from the campaign, which was spent largely avoiding the issue of climate change.
In this remaining term, if Obama is have any claim to greatness, he needs to regain his voice on global warming and outline an energy policy far-reaching enough to make a difference.
From the moment of Barack Obama's election in 2008, one thing was clear - his pre-eminent legacy, in the eyes of many thoughtful observers, would have nothing to do with his actual accomplishments.
Simply by winning, he torpedoed the notion that colour remained an insurmountable barrier to accomplishment in a nation that had once deemed blacks fit for little more than picking cotton.
In embracing the symbolic potency of his candidacy - he was not just a candidate but a totem of progress and a beacon of hope - Obama rendered the normal way of assessing chiefs of state irrelevant.
The process of governing - and the deadweight of a crippling recession - brought Obama crashing to earth. With four years under his belt, and a record to attack and defend, his candidacy was no longer simply about symbolism, but results. And judged against the impossible expectations that Obama himself had fostered, the president inevitably came up short
But now, having won re-election, he has four more years to demonstrate that he is more than a poster child for the societal progress epitomised by his election.
That's not to say his first term was unremarkable. He delivered on healthcare, sanctioned the killing of Osama bin Laden, and rode to the rescue of America's automobile industry. He also credibly dealt with an economic crisis unprecedented in recent memory.
But more intriguing than what he has already accomplished is the promise he still represents. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg deemed him solid enough on climate issues to win his endorsement. Yet it was hard to see much evidence of that from the campaign, which was spent largely avoiding the issue of climate change.
In this remaining term, if Obama is have any claim to greatness, he needs to regain his voice on global warming and outline an energy policy far-reaching enough to make a difference.