Obama: Has he bitten off too much?
The president came into office determined to leverage his post-election popularity in a host of major initiatives.
Even his allies and admirers are now asking the question, said Jonathan Weisman in The Wall Street Journal. Has Barack Obama “tried to do too much, too fast”? The president came into office determined to leverage his sky-high post-election popularity in a host of major initiatives, but as his first year draws to a close, he’s buried under a crush of demanding challenges. “His signature domestic-policy initiative,” the health-care reform plan, is now reaching a critical crossroads in the Senate, even as Obama launches a new surge of troops in Afghanistan and turns his attention to the still-sour economy with a “jobs summit.” It’s an astonishing agenda even for a politician of Obama’s grand ambition, said Susan Page in USA Today. Health-care reform, chronic joblessness, Iran’s nuclear defiance, Afghanistan, climate change—can he possibly handle all of this without becoming overwhelmed? “At stake over the next four weeks may be nothing less than the rest of Obama’s presidency.”
Certainly, Obama has bitten off a lot, said Jacob Weisberg in Slate.com. But look at what he’s accomplished already. Within a month of taking office, Obama and his economic team averted a meltdown of the nation’s financial system—and a prolonged depression—by aggressively bailing out failing banks and financial institutions. He pushed through a $787 billion stimulus package that most economists agree tipped the country back into economic growth. His overseas trips, eloquent speeches, and commitment to real diplomacy have erased the bad taste left by George W. Bush’s belligerence and put America on an entirely “new footing with the rest of the world”—Muslims in particular. If, by January, Obama has also passed a health-care reform package, as Democrats have tried and failed to do for the past 60 years, “he will have accomplished more than any first-year president since Franklin Roosevelt.”
Tell that to the voters, said John Heilemann in New York. Since January, Obama’s approval rating has dropped from 70 percent to around 47 percent, in part because his agenda looks “formless and untethered.” The economy remains a mess, with millions of Americans out of work. On health care, liberals worry that Obama just wants to pass “something, anything” he can label “reform,” rather than actually fixing the system and reducing soaring costs. As for America’s standing with Muslims, said Fouad Ajami in The Wall Street Journal, “the novelty of the Obama approach, and the Obama persona, has worn off.” After all the pretty speeches, the Palestinians and Pakistanis and Iranians want to know, Where’s the Change you promised?
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As a pundit, I understand the urge to make quick judgments, said Joe Klein in Time, and there’s no question that Obama has made his share of rookie mistakes. But it’s “way too early” to be assessing Obama’s presidency, or to be declaring, like his hyperbolic critics do, that every time he bows courteously to a foreign leader he’s created a catastrophe from which America will never recover. If there’s a common thread linking all of the year’s initiatives, from the stimulus to health care to a more nuanced, engaged foreign policy, it’s this: Obama is intentionally playing “a long game, which will yield results, or not, over time.” Give him another year, or two, and then we’ll see if he can swallow what he’s bitten off.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How to create a healthy 'germier' home
Under The Radar Exposure to a broad range of microbes can enhance our immune system, especially during childhood
-
George Floyd: Did Black Lives Matter fail?
Feature The momentum for change fades as the Black Lives Matter Plaza is scrubbed clean
-
National debt: Why Congress no longer cares
Feature Rising interest rates, tariffs and Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill could sent the national debt soaring
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: who are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?
-
Will 'weirdly civil' VP debate move dial in US election?
Today's Big Question 'Diametrically opposed' candidates showed 'a lot of commonality' on some issues, but offered competing visions for America's future and democracy