Some Losing Faith in Obama almost one year later

How do you feel about the job Barack Obama is doing as our President? He entered office with some of the highest expectations of any President I can remember. However, in a very challenging time of both war and recession, many are beginning to lose faith in his ability as a leader. What do you think? The following is a report from NBC News.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

While I have been deeply disappointed in some of the decisions the President has made, I still think he has the potential to become a great president. Unlike most liberals/progressives, I still consider myself a supporter. Perhaps that is because as a student of history, my expectations were not as great as many of my compatriots on the left. We still live in a nation with a very strong conservative movement that is beguiled by the beliefs that through military might and a near blind faith in free markets, we will always be number one in the world.

On the whole, Americans like the idea of change, just as long as that change doesn't ask much sacrifice on their part. Americans are a compassionate people, but are suspicious of big government and succumb to the stereotype that most of the poor in America are lazy or are the victim of their own poor decisions. Deep down, Americans still believe in the Horatio Alger myth, that God is on our side, and foreigners who don't see us as a beneficent power are irrational, warped fanatics.

That is the country Barack Obama is trying to lead. In most cases, I think he has the good sense to lead us down the path that will bring us to a more just and humane world. However, there are tremendously powerful forces against change in this nation.

The forces of militarism and greed that Martin Luther King railed against promoted hatred and intolerance of him. King, however, was a crusader and a martyr for his cause. Barack Obama is a politician whose power is restrained in many ways. Politics is, as has been observed, the art of compromise. In order to get things done in politics one often has to swallow hard and accept what is possible instead of what is ideal.

Looking back on the past year, I think we may come to see his first year in office as a time of naive hopefulness in the process of gentile politics and rational discussion, and that he may have realized too late that at times the gloves have to come off. It is very clear now that his political opponents never had any intention of cooperating with this left-leaning Democrat. He may have wasted valuable months in office trying to court those that were never dealing with him in good faith.

Still, even as disappointed as I am that we are escalating a war I wish we could be done with; as disheartened as I am about the direction health care reform has taken; and as surprised as I am at the lack of a reversal of all of the Bush policies that trampled on civil liberties, I still think he has the intelligence and ability to get us farther down the road of social and political progress.

I am unconvinced that any other serious candidate for President would be doing a better job with the challenges set before this President. I am still glad to have supported and worked for his election, and I will criticize the actions and policies I disagree with. However, I am convinced the America I envision is much closer to becoming a reality with a President Obama than a President Bush, President McCain, President Edwards, President Huckabee, President Romney, or any of the other cast of characters that sought to occupy the Oval Office.