The Obama Future!

This week I was at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) listening to author and historian David Reynolds debate with Bonnie Greer (featured left), playwright and politics whiz. The topic was "The Obama Future - in light of the past" and began with a half hour presentation from Reynolds offering us a quick timeline of previous presidents. After mentioning some of the most memorable inaugural moments of all time ("Ask not what your country can do for you -ask what you can do for your country" John F. Kennedy 1961) he went on to question if Obama's speech was a missed opportunity. Considering this was the inauguration of America's first black president, Reynolds felt that Obama's message should have been stronger, but after a few points were made the author decided that this year, the man was the message. Greer's input was to ask "When did we all become Americans?" which is a great question considering the endless UK coverage of US politics. I'll be the first to admit I feel more inclined to listen to what Obama has to say about his new environmental agenda over Brown and his lies over the supposed 21.7 per cent decrease of carbon emissions since 1990. Anyway, back to the talk. A debate then began with several audience members questioning how long it will be before some kind of backlash begins. Throughout the presidential campaigns, every newspaper seemed to back Obama and sometimes was even perceived as a "saviour" by extremists, but how will he live up to these unrealistic expectations? Reynolds believes that as long as the new president has the support around him in the White House that he needs, there shouldn't be a backlash, but I fear there could be some repercussions as no one likes a public downfall more than the media. One of the best comments of the evening came from an American RSA fellow who blasted any negativity out the door with a compelling point about how brilliant Obama has been so far, "he was dancing til 1.30 in the morning the night of this inauguration ball and up at 8 am the next day shutting down Guantanamo Bay... I think he's on the case!" So will he get the credit he deserves, or will he be the next target for the press to tear apart? We'll have to wait and see.