Today marks the first anniversary of Barack Obama’s election as President of the United States. And like most… well, nearly all… Canadians I had a bad case of Obama envy about this time last year. Who wouldn’t, Obama was charismatic, thoughtful, well spoken, and seemed to have the force of history behind him. And the envy only grew stronger when you compared him to what Canadian politics was offering at the time.
Today I’m (mostly) cured. No, it’s not because anyone in Parliament has lit a fire. Today President Obama seems all too human, fallible and ordinary. He’s settling into a typical political mold, plodding, pragmatic and afraid to spend his at one time massive political capital.
I was hoping he would be a game changer, but he’s ordinary.
To be sure he’s not George Bush (and won the Peace Prize for it) and he speaks well, but he’s not FDR, JFK or even Lyndon Johnson.
He talks about a great society, but has pulled his punches on delivering health care reform, changing U.S. foreign policy, and even economic reform.
I hope he turns things around. But I don’t go to sleep at night wishing he lived in Canada anymore.
