With Barack Obama’s approval rating in the mid-40s, historians point correctly to fact that his ratings are better than those of Ronald Reagan in 1982 and Bill Clinton in 1994. But, it’s neither 1982 nor 1994, and in many ways Obama is neither Reagan nor Clinton (to his benefit and detriment). Unemployment hovers near 10%, the mortgage crisis continues unabated, and most Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track. The visceral empathy of a Clinton is not natural for the more professorial Obama, and the sunny optimism of Reagan seems to elude Obama’s more recent speeches.
With less than two years before the 2012 presidential election, we have asked a host of people to weigh in on the Obama presidency and what’s in store for the next two years.
Next week we’ll post their essays, and we invite you to join the debate. Read more
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