The First Days

It does not mean I am voting for him in 2012, but I have been impressed. The new President appears decisive and determined. I do not necessarily agree with what he is doing (I have real concerns about his rolling back some of the anti terror policies), but he said what he would do and he is doing it.
I think the greatest threat to President Obama's success is not going to be from the opposition, but from his friends. He takes office leading a very angry party. The Democrats have been in a high state of agitation since the Supreme Court ended the Florida recount in 2000. In addition, the Clinton years were not exactly a boon for the far left.
Obama started this journey as the candidate of the far left of the Democratic Party. The left is invested in him. They are getting some of the things they want: closing Guantanamo Bay, reversal of don't ask, don't tell, repeal of the ban on federal funds for abortion.
But Obama, between Election Day and now has moved towards the middle. On terror, I think those intelligence briefings get a whole lot scarier when you become President elect and then President. On the economy, talking about tax increases "for the rich" makes the left's hearts pound with excitement, but who creates the jobs? Obama, to his credit, seems to have recognized that.
But Speaker Pelosi agitates for tax increases. John Conyers wants to conduct war crimes trials at the Judiciary Committee. The Patriot Act must be repealed, the troops must come home, No Child Left Behind must be left behind. Unions want you to declare openly (and no doubt in front of some really rough looking dudes) that you do not want to be a member. The left is a monster hungry to be fed.
With friends like these, he might schedule more dinners at George Will's house.
The President now must walk that delicate balance between the people that feel they put him there and the rest of America. I give him good marks so far, but the beast will roar again.
Yet, it was a small thing more than anything that impressed me here in the first few days. Yesterday Vice President Biden (oh are we going to have fun with him over the next few years) took a cheap shot at the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. While some in the room laughed, it was clear the President was not amused, did not crack a smile, and he seemed to give Biden that grab on the arm that we have all given or gotten from our spouses when it is time to shut up. The President showed real class.
I always felt George W. Bush wanted to be President to do something rather than just to be something and I liked that. In these first days I have come to feel that way about President Obama. I may not agree with everything he is going to do, but I respect that he is trying to do it.