President Obama May Have Been a Victim of High Expectations

The results of the 2010 midterm elections in the US last Wednesday, November the third, were a sweeping victory for the Republican Party not seen since 1942 and very costly for the Obama Administration and his Democratic party. The results have cost President Obama’s party the control of the US House of Representatives, which is the law-making body in the US Government.

Having lost the House of Representatives to the Republican Party will surely make it even more difficult for the Obama Administration to govern and may result in some serious government gridlocks. But more noteworthy is that these results may be a clear indication that President Obama, who made history by being the first black president of the United States, may have also lost, perhaps forever, his chance to make more history by being a great leader that so many people around the world had hoped and were longing for.

When President Obama was elected in 2008, there was magic in the air, not only in the United States but in every country and every corner of the world. People everywhere were so genuinely cheering for him. Their jubilance however wasn’t so much about this charismatic, eloquent, and energetic young black individual named Barack Hussein Obama. It was more about symbolism and idealism than about politics. It was about the excitement of witnessing history being made in the most powerful country in the world and the prospects for history being made thereafter by this promising young leader. Obama’s election, inside as well as outside of the United States, was a statement about the greatness of this country for electing a minority black president after blacks were being segregated and couldn’t use the same public facilities, vote or serve in the United States armed forces only a few short decades ago.

Inside the United States, the election of a minority black president reminded many Americans that the American dream was still alive and well. And outside of it, it renewed respect for and faith in the United States that so many people around the world had come to admire (perhaps also hated the United States but still admired it). It also reinforced their belief that America was still the land of opportunity where dreams could come true. To so many, Obama’s election was indeed as uplifting as an idealistic fantasy and like an event that couldn’t occur this soon. The event did occur and a minority black person is now the president of the United States of America.

But that very exciting historic event of electing a minority black president immediately put the now President Obama in front of the most awesome responsibility and most difficult test with his supporters, admirers and opponents alike. As the first black minority president, President Obama’s bar had been set so high for him. His supporters and admirers now expected the impossible of him, while his opponents, on the other hand, immediately feared the future of their country.

President Obama’s supporters worldwide expected him to be more than the first minority black president of the US; they expected him to be a world leader of the first class. Perhaps because of their longing to see a great world leader, they had envisioned greatness in this newly elected minority president. President Obama, for many, became the Masaya in the minds of his supporters having super-natural abilities to do the impossible and to fix things overnight and at all fronts. And in the minds of his opponents, fear had set in that he might try to pull dangerous stunts that could take the country into uncharted territory. President Obama must now attend to all of this awesome responsibility without hesitation or flaws.

With the unrealistically high expectations, not only did President Obama not deliver, he couldn’t deliver. Instead, President Obama was almost surely destined for disappointment among both supporters and foes alike and the November third election results reflected that disappointment so clearly.

Inside the United States, President Obama was expected to fix all the economic and financial mess the country was in and to get the economy back on track in a few short months - a task that may be impossible to do even theoretically since no viable solution, political or otherwise, has been proposed by anyone Republicans or Democrats. But the euphoria, idealism and symbolism that accompanied the historic event of electing a minority black president for the first time in the superpower United States have raised the expectations of him to unrealistic levels to where he couldn’t deliver. President Obama has become the victim of high expectations.

What I personally expected of President Obama was not really to govern but to lead. With the Republicans gaining control of the House of Representatives, it is going to be much more difficult, if not impossible, for President Obama to pass any of his unpopular agenda items, and if these items do pass, they are not likely to satisfy neither his supporters on the left nor his opponents on the right. This dissatisfaction will render President Obama ineffective. Instead of governing and attending to politics, President Obama ought to leave the office of presidency at the end of his term and not to run for president in 2012.

Politics and public offices, particularly the office of presidency in the United States, used to be a good or an effective platform for serving people, but not anymore. Politics and politicians are now associated with dirty games of power struggle. And until this changes, President Obama ought to leave governing and the office of presidency all together to politicians like Sarah Palin and the likes. If he truly wants to serve his people, as he and every politician claims, President Obama ought to become the true leader that the people saw or wanted to see in him back in 2008 by turning his focus and energy on fighting injustice and suffering for humanity and mankind anywhere in the world from outside of the office of presidency. Leaving the power game to those who want it and becoming a true leader like Martin Luther King Junior and the Mahatma Gandhi is much less lucrative but much more gratifying.

* With contribution from Bruce H. Pugesek, President of Voyageur Research

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