Two years ago, Republicans liked to say that the only hard thing Obama ever did right was beating Hillary Clinton in the primary, and in electoral terms, there was some truth to that. In 2012 the GOP hoped to cast him as an inspiring guy who was not up to the job. But now we know the difference between the wish and the thing, the hype and the man in the office. He stands somewhat shorter, having won 4 million fewer votes and two fewer states than in 2008. But his 5 million-vote margin of victory out of 129 million ballots cast shocked experts in both parties, and it probably would have been higher had so much of New York and New Jersey not stayed home after Hurricane Sandy. He won many of the toughest battlegrounds walking away: Virginia by 4 points, Colorado by 5 and the lily white states of Iowa and New Hampshire by 6. He untied Ohio’s knotty heartland politics, picked the Republican lock on Florida Cubans and won Paul Ryan’s hometown of Janesville, Wis. (Those last two data points especially caught the President’s interest.) He will take the oath on Jan. 20 as the first Democrat in more than 75 years to get a majority of the popular vote twice. Only five other Presidents have done that in all of U.S. history.
Now as many of you may remember last month I was advocating that Time pick Malala Yousafzai, the little Pakistani girl who was shot by members of the Taliban for openly campaigning for educational opportunities for females in her country, as the "Person of the Year."
However even while I was pushing for THAT outcome I was also cognizant enough to realize that the President may have had it locked up.
I cannot say that I am disappointed, as the President deserves as much recognition as possible for his four years in office, his heroic campaign, and the positive impact he has had on this nation.
He stood up to the Tea Party, he stood up to the billions of dollars used to smear him in the last campaign, he stood up to the endless stream of lies that flowed from the lips of Mitt Romney, and he stood up to the attempts of Karl Rove and others to suppress American's right to vote and steal the election outright.
So does he deserve to be the Person of the Year? Of course he does.
Update: You know perhaps it is THIS side of the President which makes him truly worthy of our affection.
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| Obama plays villain for son of White House staffer's son dressed as Spider-Man |
