100 Days of Obama 1: The President

So it’s the time when people rate how a president has done in his first 100 days in office. How can a conservative rate an unabashedly liberal president? Well, if it is done carefully, I think it can be done fairly.

The operative question is, “what did I expect”, or maybe “what did I fear?”

From that perspective, the Obama administration hasn’t been the train wreck it could have been. He’s allowed continuity with the last administration in handling the war, he hasn’t pulled the all the troops from Iraq, he’s increased the troops in Afghanistan, and he’s left wiggle room in the closing of Guantanamo.

Though he’s certainly not pro-life or pro-gun, he hasn’t pushed for FOCA or new gun controls. Yet. And many of his cabinet appointments are far less liberal and far more responsible than they could have been.

Beyond that, well, he’s a Democrat, so there have been few real surprises.

He ended the Mexico City policy and sort of funded ESCR. Well, he pretty much promised that up front. The European Apology Tour, though irritating, was hardly surprising. His “stimulus” was a typical liberal response to any problem – give money we don’t have to people who produce nothing and expand government power and influence.

The death of the post-partisanship wasn’t surprising – every politician claims to want to bring a new tone to Washington; the swing voters require it. The only surprise is that they still believe anyone.

The only real surprises have been the dismissing of corporate officers as if they were government employees (I really didn’t expect that kind of gall) and the administration’s passive approach to this new flu (of course, this is still fairly new).

If the rest of Pres. Obama’s term is as quiet as the first 100 days, we’ll be lucky. Broke, but lucky. Unfortunately all signs suggest he’s only getting started. My rating? C (You can decide whether that stands for "could be worse" or "conservative bias.")