Just under seven weeks ago, students at Tufts University crowded into a campus center that had been transformed into a focal point of patriotic energy. Over two months after winning one of the most historical elections in decades, the inauguration of Barack Obama had finally arrived and Tufts students were ready to celebrate. The campus center, lined with red, white and blue balloons, was teeming with students whose eyes were glued to the flat-screen TVs broadcasting the momentous occasion. Banners were hung, pins were passed out and free food was plentiful. The overwhelmingly liberal population at Tufts was all smiles.
On this cold January afternoon, students were given the chance to push the recent challenges of the United States out of their minds -- to forget about the increasingly failing economy, the seemingly endless war in Iraq and the divisive disagreements over issues like immigration and health care. Obama seemed to provide a beacon of hope in the midst of a turbulent time in American history, and with his wish to bring bipartisan politics to the White House, it seemed to some that, for once in eight years, Democrats and Republicans might actually be able to get along.
A month and a half later, the energy that was palpable for so long after Obama's win has slightly diminished as the realities of a country in trouble have started to sink in. As the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to plummet with each passing day, Americans have begun to realize that the election of a new president -- no matter how charismatic or beloved he may be -- does not mean that the problems of the United States will magically be solved.
Recognizing that the country is not in the best place, Obama has wasted no time settling into his new role and has already confronted several controversial issues concerning human rights, the Iraq war and the economy. His decision to close Guantánamo Bay just days after his inauguration was hailed as a victory for human rights activists across the country, but he is now left with questions of what to do with the prisoners. His announcement to withdraw troops from Iraq by 2011 was met by some with glee and others with intense skepticism. His plan to stimulate the economy through large-scale government spending has already alienated many Republicans.
Deborah Schildkraut, an associate professor of political science at Tufts, believes that although Obama has started to experience the harsh realities of policy making, it is still very possible for him to maintain his idolized image. "He has the potential to have a relatively decent approval rating for a while," Schildkraut said.
But while she recognizes that it is possible for Obama to stay generally well-liked, it is also very possible for the tides to turn against him. "On every big issue he's confronting, there's a segment of the population that he could upset," she said. "Each step along the way there are things he could do to alienate key groups of his supporters. There could be times when he genuinely changes his views as the realities of law making set in. These realities may lead him to change his opinion on things, and he risks pissing people off."
Obama has already succeeded in displeasing one student group on campus: the Tufts Republicans. The organization's president, sophomore Michael Hawley, said that the hype surrounding Obama has always bothered him. "Like a lot of conservatives, I found the Obama mania during the election to be rather irritating -- almost to the point of insufferability," he said. "On election night, I was not a happy camper."
Although Hawley is actually pleased with most of Obama's policies regarding foreign affairs, he is distressed over the president's economic policy. "It's on the domestic front that I'm viewing his presidency as the start to complete and total disaster," Hawley said. "If you want something to back me up on that, take a look at the stock market."
Hawley believes that Obama's proposed increases in taxes and government spending are not the cure for a failing economy. "Obama has really seemed to master taking a bad thing and making it much, much worse," he stated. "For someone who's trying to save jobs, he's doing a really good job of strangling job creators. Large and small businesses are going to take a big hit from his economic programs."
In addition to issues at home, Obama has received criticism for some of his policies abroad that have seemingly contradicted campaign promises, such as denying constitutional rights to detainees of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
But the Tufts Democrats still hold that they could not be happier about the president's time in office. Sophomore and long-time member of the group Brian Agler has been satisfied with almost all of Obama's choices as of yet.
"Obama is not afraid to make tough decisions," Agler said. "And while he's compromising, he's not abandoning his principles."
Sophomore Sam Wallis, co-editor of the political opinion journal Tufts Roundtable, also believes that Obama is on track for a successful presidency. "He's doing exactly what we elected him to do and exactly what he said he would do," Wallis said.
But while Agler and Wallis are pleased with Obama's time in office, they both believe that his popularity is not set in stone. "At the end of the day, he did make promises and say certain things were going to happen," Agler said. "If he starts breaking promises, it doesn't matter how popular he was to begin with. The U.S. people, Tufts students included, will demand different results."
Wallis agrees that, at some point, the people of the U.S. will start holding Obama accountable for the fate of the country. "President Obama has about a year honeymoon," he said. "If, in a year, we start to really see things turn around, that will be partly attributed to him, and if it doesn't, that will also be partly attributed to him."