Obama, a sad anniversary

Barack Obama has not received a nice gift for his first year in office at the White House. The result of the election in Massachusetts, that has always been a Democratic State (at least in the last 40 years) maybe beacuse it was Kennedy's State, are a blow to the stomach: the winner is the Republican Scott Brown, who has always focused, in his election campaign, on the economic crisis.

For those who are not American and do not follow the politics of the United States, it may seems a defeat like another. But it's not so. Scott Brown seemed, until a few weeks ago, another Republican who would come out as a loser in the election battle with Democrats in Massachusetts. Then the polls started to show him winning. So even president Barack Obama and the former President Bill Clinton took the field to defend the democratic seat. Their speeches, however, have failed to change electorate minds and help Democratic Martha Coakley. She made too many missteps, according to some observers. And so the seat of Ted Kennedy (who had fought until the end for the health care reform) is lost. The truth, perhaps, is another. Forty-four percent of Massachusetts voters cited the economy and jobs as their top concern in a recent 7 News/Suffolk University poll. Thirty-eight percent mentioned health care as their top concern.

Barack Obama was not wrong with the focus on health care reform in a country like the United States, where receiving treatment without medical insurance is not possible. But he was wrong to forget the other goals so much talked about during his election campaign. Because the Americans probably were not ready to address the health issue. While other problems remain in the background and in some cases are even worsening. The economic crisis is there, nothing has changed. Unemployment is all over the United States and even on this front he has done not so much. In foreign policy there aren't been significant moves of the President. And the military front has even worsened the situation. The decision to send more troops in Afghanistan and to become responsible for that war was a choice that has disappointed young people and ethnic minorities who were decisive in his election. The left wing of his party also accuses him of being too lenient with the bankers on Wall Street.
Barack Obama comes out with broken bones and he won't have time to celebrate his first year in office. Now he must roll up his sleeves and study well the parliamentary balance in Washington. The president has lost the majority of 60 votes out of 100 in the Senate, which is essential to stop opposition filibuster. Brown has already said he will vote against health care reform in the Senate so now we have to understand what will Obama do. Someone asks if he'll try to push through healthcare reform before the new arrival of the Republican to the Senate. He could follow the legislative process of "reconciliation" of the texts of the House and Senate that allows to approve the final text by a simple majority and in that case he won't encounter many problems.
But this was not Obama's plan. Now, his advisers are working especially to try to recover the affection of his constituents. Many things have not worked, and many targets could be set aside to win back the American people. Obama has only ten months before the midterm elections to reverse the trend and to revive his American dream. It won't be easy.