Politics--Mallory Fox

This year, Americans embraced their first ever African American President, Barack Obama. Obama is also the first new president since before the terrorist attacks in 2001, and the most successful in using the internet to his political advantage.
Barack Obama’s resume appeared meager by previous presidential standards, spending four years as a senator in Washington and eight years in the Illinois State Senate. Despite his relative lack of experience, Obama was able to seize the Democratic nomination from a far more notable competitor, Hillary Clinton. After winning an epic primary battle, Obama overcame Arizona Senator, Republican John McCain by an electoral margin of 365 to 173 and out-polling him by more than eight million votes.
As a democrat, Obama has big visions about what government can to do solve problems. Although it is too early to see all the changes President Obama is trying to make, it is already apparent that Obama is holding true to the promises he made as he was campaigning for office. For instance, Obama’s proposed tax plan delivers “broad-based tax relief to middle class families and cuts taxes for small businesses and companies that create jobs in America” (whitehouse.gov). Those earning less than $250,000 per year would see some tax cut while those above will receive a 3% increase. President Obama says that his tax plan will “help restore bottom-up economic growth that creates good jobs in America and empowers all families to achieve the American dream” (whitehouse.gov). Obama’s most controversial act so far was passing a $787 billion dollar stimulus package that was designed to help stimulate the economy.
President Obama inherited many problems when he became the 44th president of the United States. Some have compared our economic situation to that of the Great Depression. Banks were on the verge of collapse and the U.S. auto industry was on the verge of bankruptcy. America is also facing many international challenges such as the war in Iraq, the worsening conflict in Afghanistan, the consequences from Israel’s broad assault on Gaza, piracy, and the threat of terrorism.
While the challenges for the nation are great, the American public so far seems to stand behind the new president. He remains popular in public opinion polls and will not doubt continue to search for ways for government to actively address today’s many challenges.