Did Obama try to do too much?
What a string of setbacks mean for Barack Obama's presidency
"Barack Obama’s Big Bang is beginning to backfire," said Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei in Politico. The president's "plans for rapid, once-in-a-generation overhauls of energy, financial regulation, and health care are running into stiff resistance." Obama was hoping to "use a season of economic anxiety to enact sweeping changes the public likely wouldn’t stomach in ordinary times," but the public's mood has shifted—"from optimism about Obama’s possibility to concern he may be overreaching."
Republicans have got Obama on the run, said Fred Barnes in The Wall Street Journal. The media denounced former vice president Dick Cheney for challenging Obama's "inclination to go soft in the war on terror," then criticized former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin when her controversial statement about "death panels" exposed flaws in Obama's health-care reform plans. But guess what—in both cases, the Republicans' arguments "carried the day."
President Obama has indeed had some "setbacks" recently, said Jason Zengerle in The New Republic, but that's no reason for Democrats to "hit the panic button." A year ago people were "freaking out" because they thought Obama was bungling his presidential campaign—and we all know how that turned out. And while Obama has hit some bumps on health care and Afghanistan, "it's quite possible, maybe even likely, that the defining issue/event of the Obama administration has yet to even occur."
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.
Even if Obama has to lower his sights, said Doyle McManus in the Los Angeles Times, he's likely to succeed where George W. Bush failed. Both came to office hoping to pass major reform "that touched every American family," but Bush's Social Security proposals "died without Congress ever taking a vote." Obama has left himself "room to downsize," so even if he has to drop the government-run "public option" insurance plan, he should be able to get some kind of health-care reform passed and "claim a victory."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Ozzy Osbourne obituary: heavy metal wildman and lovable reality TV dad
In the Spotlight For Osbourne, metal was 'not the music of hell but rather the music of Earth, not a fantasy but a survival guide'
-
Crossword: August 2, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: August 2, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardon
Talking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
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: which party 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