Chris Hayes wrote a few days ago proclaiming "the honeymoon for Democrats not named Barack Obama appears to be over." Once the state governments fall back to normal approval ratings, as has now happened, the federal government cannot be far to follow. How long then does Obama have left to enjoy his massive public support?
There has, since the beginning of Obama's term, been a degree of discontent with his administration's economic policies. McCain's use of the word "socialist" during the campaign became very useful for articulating the discomfort many people felt with the bailouts and ramped up government involvement in the private sector. The discontent has certainly not been local, but it hasn't been mainstream either. The economic and ideological opposition is necessary and good, but calling Obama socialist won't make the socialists withdraw their support: ideological battles are only won in the long run.
Most of the opposition has therefore come from those who never supported him in the first place. So far the outrage over bailouts and nationalization has not been enough to shake the support for the federal administration garnered by an aesthetic infatuation with "hope and change."
But not anymore. The News & Observer reports that Obama was actually booed for his stance on medical malpractice caps by a group of doctors, a profession enjoying public support around the same as teachers and firefighters (link regards Britain in particular, but the sentiment is widespread). Even better, doctors are not an ideological group, so their complaints can't be simply dismissed by opposing ideologues.
Considering the importance of health care to his platform, this could prove to be a major bump in the road for his plans. But even more significantly, it stands as a portent that the opposition has entered the non-ideological mainstream. The honeymoon is over. Welcome to the real presidency, Mr. Obama.
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