The honeymoon is over

We all know that honeymoons come to an end, and even on that sparkling January day a year ago today when Barack Obama made it official with the American people, both sides realised that such bliss could not be eternal. But neither partner in that marriage foresaw that the honeymoon would end so soon, with the bride of public opinion packing her bags in the holiday hotel in a tearful rage, leaving the groom to plead, "I never said this would be easy … come back, I can still bring change".

Americans have fallen out of love with their charming president at a fast rate, even as his popularity has remained high abroad. As early as October, his approval ratings had tumbled from 65-70 per cent to the high 40s. Obama's inheritance from George W. Bush — some wedding present — was two wars, the worst recession for 70 years, unemployment heading for 10 per cent and a $1.2 trillion (Dh4.4 trillion) deficit. It guaranteed a first year of unprecedented challenge.

Not content with dealing with all that, Obama decided to tame the monster of health care, tackle energy reform, sign a global green treaty, embrace the Muslim world, bring peace to the Middle East, establish a universe free of nuclear weapons and talk sense to the Iranians. Americans have baulked at the mind-boggling sums involved in his domestic reform: a $787 billion (Dh2.8 trillion) stimulus bill, a $1 trillion (Dh3.6 trillion) health care bill and plans for cap and trade that will cost industry dearly.

The president has confessed to disappointment at breaking his vow on changing the political culture. "What I haven't been able to do in the midst of this crisis is bring the country together in a way that we had done in the inauguration," he admitted to People magazine. "That's what's been lost this year … that sense of changing how Washington works."

He has propped up the economy, albeit with an inflated and, in places, misdirected stimulus bill. The housing market has bottomed out, and consumer confidence is returning. The possibility of a double-dip recession remains, but if most forecasters are right, unemployment should begin to fall. Belatedly, Obama and his ex-Goldman Sachs Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have acknowledged popular outrage over the bailout by proposing a special bank tax, a start towards easing Main Street's resentment over Wall Street's preferential treatment.

Efficient

Contrary to Obama's big-spending image, he has cut more superfluous spending programmes in Congress than his Republican predecessor. And despite the image of stagnation — created in large part by the 10-month health care debate — Congress has passed more legislation supported by a president than any before him, according to Congressional Quarterly.

Furthermore, he has banned torture (just in case there was any confusion about America's position on this), ordered the closure of Guantánamo and sent the 9/11 suspects for trial in the civilian courts. Federal funding has been restored to stem-cell research, women's rights to equal pay have been improved, and new emissions standards have been set for vehicles. This is not a president who can't get things done.

And lest we forget, by his very presence, and by his handling of race when it has reared into public debate, he has gone some way to erasing what Condoleezza Rice called America's birth defect.

Critics have lambasted his foreign policy for appeasing terrorists, kowtowing to China and bowing to monarchs of far-off lands. With all this negotiation and reaching out, where are the results, they demand?

But who seriously expected Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong-il to respond to overtures when their existence depends in part on vilifying America? Changing the tone in the Middle East conflict was clumsily done but could still bring results. In his Egypt speech last June, Obama said: "I've come to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interest and mutual respect." Those are powerful words. In time, they could come to mean something.

Obama does have some defects to correct. He needs to stop blaming Bush for his problems and to find some of Bush's fire in the belly when it counts. There were encouraging signs of the latter when he delivered a forceful reaction to the Haiti disaster. It would help if he pruned his agenda. Hours after he had spoken about how the US would assist the Haitians, he spoke at the White House Forum on Modernising Government. Preparing for such events takes time that could be spent on weightier matters.

Obama's first year has not been nearly as bad as the received truth in Washington would have it. Having swooned for him in the campaign, the media has overcorrected its earlier collective abandonment of balanced reporting. But if he wants to win back those Americans he has lost, Obama needs to appreciate that, as he often said on the stump, their relationship isn't about him, it is about them.

— The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2010