(Thumbnail image: The White House)
President Barack Obama is finishing up his first year in the White House, and critics have lost no time in assessing his efforts.
Few would disagree that 2009 was full of challenges for the president.
But what his biggest problem has been and will be in 2010 depends on whom you ask.
First, on Fox News, Wall Street Journal columnist Mary Anastasia O'Grady says Obama’s biggest problem has been that the bar was set too high when he came into office.
“He came in as the great messiah, who was going to do right everything that George Bush did wrong. And, in the end, I think he's having trouble in the polls because the expectations were so high for him.”
Joe Scarborough reminds a panel on NBC’s Meet the Press- It’s the economy, stupid. He suggests the president might have forgotten that.
“The real problem with Barack Obama’s first year has been all these distractions. (FLASH) But he’s been talking about health care reform, we’ve been talking about Afghanistan, we’ve been talking about cap and trade, we’ve seen him go to Copenhagen twice. (laughs) It is jobs, jobs, jobs—the campaign slogan of the year. Bobs for jobs. In the end, it’s all about jobs.”
Domestic complaints aside, on CNN author Trita Parsi turns to foreign policy, where he criticizes Mr. Obama's approach in Iran.
“I think at times the administration may have been a little bit too quiet on the human rights front, but I've seen now in the last couple weeks that there's an increasing amount of condemnations about the human rights violations, and that's very important for the moral support to the opposition, which is the type of support at this stage can be provided.”
The president’s real problem? His leadership style. That’s the opinion of Drew Westen on AlterNet.
“… deliver a moving speech, move on, and when push comes to shove, leave it to others to decide what to do if there's a conflict because if there's a conflict, he doesn't want to be anywhere near it.”
So, what do you think Obama’s biggest problem has been this year? Do you think things will change in 2010?
By: Newsy Staff
