Nov.10 : Last year, on November 4, Barack Obama won the presidential race by an overwhelming majority. But on the first anniversary itself he has received a setback. Charles Krauthammer, a conservative columnist, recently said that though last year he did not vote for Mr Obama, he was happy at his victory. November 4, 2008, according to him, was the day of redemption for white Americans.

But in the last one year, a number of Americans have had second thoughts about their President — the job market hasn’t recovered and there is uncertainty about the prospects of the war on terror. Though Mr Obama’s popular rating are high, these factors are taking the shine off him.

This was evident on November 3, 2009, when the fate of the two gubernatorial races — Virginia and New Jersey— and to the House of Representatives was decided. Virginia is traditionally a Republican state while New Jersey is Democratic. Mr Obama scored in both the states, last. Voters said they love him but can’t love his candidates. In upstate New York, the ultra-conservatives could not bring victory to the candidate of their choice. Thus voters showed that the country is neither totally to the Left nor to the Right; it is in the middle.

In Virginia and New Jersey, the Republican candidates got 60 per cent of independent votes and 67 per cent of white male votes. The turnout of the blacks as well as young people was low. This means that the much talked about demographical change in America has no solid foundation. There is no doubt that in the next presidential election Mr Obama would not be forsaken by the "independents", the whites and the blacks, but their number might not be as large as before.

The Opposition and the disillusionment of the "independents" is serious. And if this trend continues, next year’s mid-term election to the House of Representatives might reduce the strength of the Democratic Party, if not reduce it to a minority.

Since Me Obama inherited an economic meltdown and is facing other extraordinary challenges, he should have concentrated on reviving the market and creating jobs. Instead, he and other leading Democrats were obsessed with healthcare reforms. This infuriated the Republicans who did not do anything to solve the problems when in power, but instead indulged in scare mongering.

But even the moderate Democrats are opposed to bringing in a government-run institution to manage healthcare. And, moreover, the administration made the confusion worse by not giving the exact cost of the new bill.

The stimulus plan helped the banks, who did not help create jobs but made huge profits themselves. Hence, the American people are rightly worried about their future and apprehend tax increase.

Candidate Obama was all the while hammering the established political culture which, he said, was divisive. But today one finds there is much more bickering and bitterness. In his campaign Mr Obama enjoyed rousing the masses and encouraging their expectations. Even after assuming power he has not come out of the campaign mode. In a democracy, when a party is elected, the Prime Minister/President and the Cabinet have to be responsive towards people, but they have to govern as well.

Rabble-rousing can be practiced by all and the Republicans have shown that they can play this game very well.

Mr Obama thinks otherwise, and that is why he is always on the move. His constant appearances on international platforms and before the camera have lost relevance. He has taken initiatives in so many fields at the same time that it has resulted in stagnation. Mr Obama claimed that the stimulus plan would create millions of jobs. Now he has realised that job creation must be a priority. It is true that the economy has turned the corner and even manufacturing is on the rise; but this is happening the world over. America is not special, or alone.

Mr Obama has changed the tone of America’s foreign policy quite distinctly. But he believes too much in the power of his own rhetoric and charisma. In domestic as well as foreign affairs one has to go into details and at times there’s need to be specific. But in his political life, Mr Obama has never bothered to go into details. As soon as he entered the Illinois Senate, he aspired to go to Washington. After being elected to the Senate he started preparing for the presidential race. He had no substantial legislative achievements to his credit or administrative experience.

Therefore, most of the world’s statesmen are not sure as to where he stands. He thought that a few speeches would bring changes in West Asia and his personality would put an end to the hostile attitude of the Muslim world. To bring West Asia and Pakistan-Afghanistan under his direct supervision, Mr Obama appointed special envoys. This was also done to undercut Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state. But both the envoys failed. Iran is not persuaded and North Korea is giving mixed signals. Ultimately, Ms Clinton had to take the initiative and assert herself.

Time and again Mr Obama has said that while the Iraq war was by choice, Afghanistan was a war of necessity. But his strategy is unclear. General Stanley McChrystal has asked for 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan but the administration is yet to come up with an alternative. Mr Obama, of course, would not know which of the two is more dubious — Afghan President Hamid Karzai or former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Pakistan is always a doubtful factor, especially since its civil and military authorities are suspicious of each other. The recent demonstrations against the Kerry-Lugar Bill were inspired by the Army and Inter-Services Intelligence as the bill demanded civil control. In addition, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) chief Nawaz Sharif and his brother are reported to have supported the recalcitrant elements.

Writer, columnist Ahmed Rashid has doubts about the will of the Pakistani Army to wage a fight to the finish. He thinks that the Army might be fighting the Taliban in South Wazaristan, but might not to do so in the north. So many suicide bombings in the cantonment areas and even at the Army training schools would not have happened without accomplices inside.

Americans are obviously worried. That is why the Democrats lost their traditional stronghold New Jersey and Mr Obama had to celebrate a cloudy anniversary.

Govind Talwalkar