Well, putting end-game hypotheses and conspiracy theories aside for the moment ( I fully expect GfS or LH to start talking about the
Templars or the illuminati at any moment), my opinion of Obama's election at the time was "why in God's name does he want to take this on?" Anyone who was elected President in 2008 was inheriting a failed economy, a massive debt, and an angry electorate. At his election, Obama's popularity was off the charts. Why? Because people were desparate for any kind of hope. I knew when he moved from the realm of the abstract to actually implementing change , that he would experience massive opposition. In short, he was faced with an unwinnable game.

As someone said previously, he has been President for 18 months, has been responsible for an enormous amount of legislation, and opposition to him breaks into two camps: Those who feel that he hasn't done enough, and those who feel he's done too much. I will give him credit for instituting emergency stopgap measures which prevented a total and immediate meltdown of the financial system. And I give him credit for pursuing solutions to long-term issues like universal health care, which had been permanently tabled. Confronted with complex issues, Obama has attempted complex solutions. And complex is something the electorate neither desires or understands. What they understand is the FOX National Debt clock. What they understand is a Republican candidate nailing the Cap and Trade Agreement to a tree and shooting it with a 9mm pistol. In short, we desire solutions, but have none of the patience or understanding of the issues necessary to achieve them.

In such an environment, how could anyone prevail in making needed change? We are disappointed, but we shouldn't be surprised. When Barack Obama made his victory speech, there were those who decided on the spot that we would support him through thick and thin, and there were others who had been defeated, but who knew better than to rail in bitterness in the face of so much hope. They knew that, biding their time, they could simply outwait us.