Obama's first year

(Back to health matters on Monday. Today, a little something about the political scene)

A year after the election of President Barack Obama, CNN interviewed people about what they were doing when they received word of the historical event. The interviews were tied the debut of a documentary on HBO Tuesday that chronicles what is characterized as Obama’s improbable rise.

Election Day 2008, I was busy coordinating Election Day coverage for the Chi-Town Daily News. I was editing and posting stories from full-time and volunteer reporters who covered city races and the presidential race.

We posted what seemed to be dozens of vignettes and anecdotes about local races and the mood of the electorate. At the end of the night, I gathered the best and weaved them into a lead story. I was proud of the newspaper and staff and felt honored to be working in Chicago the night Barack Obama gave his victory speech in Millennium Park.

I appreciated the moment and savored it. Obama won big. He had a mandate.

But he ain’t using it. Instead of forging ahead with the people who got him into the White House and implementing the sweeping change he promised, he has sought partnerships with people who would shout him down during a presidential address. People aligned with a news network that reports false stories about him.

I want the president to be more decisive. I want him to realize that he is fighting against the status quo and the supporters of the status quo won’t give an inch. They have nothing to benefit from ending war, reforming health care, really getting the economy on track, equality.

Obama and his supporters should move fast and be deliberate because the people who lost the White House want it back and are willing to do anything to get it back.

Question is, can Obama and his supporters do what’s right for the nation and maintain a majority in Congress in the 2010 mid-term elections and then re-claim the big house in 2012?