Presidential Success?

The American political system is essentially comprised of 2 political parties, who at their current state could not stand further apart on political issues.  The government was organized into 3 separate branches as a means of eliminating any risk of a tyrannical leader (King George), I believe contemporary Americans forget this at times.  In all reality the President of the United States is provides citizens with a face for America, but more importantly a scapegoat to blame issues on.  President Obama won the 2008 in what turned out to be an absolute ass-kicking (he even won Indiana!), ultimately with such a resounding victory comes an extraordinary amount of expectation and pressure. 

Presidential candidates in the United States run political campaigns that are fueled by both extraordinary claims and fiscal responsibility to interest groups.  It is the job of the candidate to win over more voters than his/her opponent--something that is typically done through campaign platforms that cover nearly every issue that the American voter can identify with.  President Obama was no different and noticed the growing salience of the environment within politics.  During his campaign he made a number of promises regarding the environment, promises that's progress is being tracked at PolitiFact: Obama's Campaign Promises that are about the Environment. While going through the website, you notice that a large majority of the promises fall under the "In the Works" stage.  I felt like "in the works" was quite a favorable term for many of the issues which will never even reach relevance.  This is by no means an attack on President Obama, I personally voted for him and still believe that he is capable of getting the job done.  However, I believe that this truly is a testament to the driving force behind politics, the economic climate.  Political power is at its' peak when the economy is good or one party has a majority of members in congress.  While the Democrats had a majority in congress, the economic outlook of America was grim, making legislation to get backed up through the power of the filibuster.  The delay in achieving successful passing of legislation ultimately reorganized the goals of the Obama Administration and ultimately caused the outlook of passing progressive legislation (environmental) not as promising as was hoped.  However, the passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Stimulus Bill) allowed for the passing of nearly 79 billion dollars earmarked for green initiatives.  The Senate version of this bill had earmarked nearly 50 billion dollars for coal and nuclear industries--needless to say this part of the bill did not make it to the President's desk.  The final bill is expected to bring about nearly 3.5 million jobs within the "green-collar" industry--an important outlet within society as we continue to move towards more environmentally friendly initiatives.  The bill's allocating of funds can be seen at www.recovery.gov .

While the President has the power of the item-line veto, they ultimately are second fiddle in comparison to the power of congress (who can over-rule the veto).  However, President Obama has had success with many Senators and House of Representative members rising to power through the success of Obama.  Ultimately, the existence of the bicameral legislature is to maintain that the president does not abuse their power.  While President Obama does have the power of the veto and executive order (emancipation proclamation, most famously), during his first 100 days he was able to pass the stimulus package, in addition to calling attention to and reiteration his stance on several other environmental issues that are outlined here.

Ultimately, I personally feel as a Democrat who has voted for Obama somewhat disappointed at the backtracking that has happened since being in office.  Granted, his initiatives are fueled by the economic standing of America, something that has not been favorable since he took office.  As can be seen on the Politifact "Obamameter" link above, there exist many things that President Obama has either not yet gotten to, or has had to compromise to get the legislation past.  While President Obama has the power to push through green initiatives, the political climate does not offer much of an opportunity with many other domestic and international issues taking precedent.  Overall, I personally believe that priorities and the polarization of parties is something that will only perpetuate the current state of the economy.  Politics ultimately comes down to money and within the current economic climate, in addition to the continuing loss of support for President Obama, I do not see a positive outlook for the environmental issues and campaign promises.  While somewhat disappointed in Obama, it truly comes down to the organization of our government and the reluctance of individuals to do "the right thing" as a means of maintaining both part and constituent support.  While President Obama has failed to implement "green initiatives" to the magnitude that was emphasized within his Presidential Campaign, he has been sidetracked with the passing of the Health Care Bill, as well as our continued presence in the middle east.

Will his environmental policies be enough to warrant such a picture?