[ti:Weighing the First Year of Obama as President] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:IN THE NEWS] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS [00:04.98]in VOA Special English. [00:08.25]President Barack Obama [00:10.60]has begun his second year [00:13.14]in office. [00:13.98]The forty-fourth president, [00:16.08]and first African-American [00:18.21]president, was inaugurated [00:20.25]last January twentieth. [00:22.85]"Today I say to you that [00:24.54]the challenges we face are real, [00:25.98]they are serious and they are many. [00:28.32]They will not be met easily [00:30.36]or in a short span of time. [00:32.67]But know this America, [00:34.14]they will be met." [00:36.15]Those challenges included [00:39.33]an economic downturn, [00:41.02]wars in Afghanistan [00:43.26]and Iraq and a promise [00:46.29]to reform the health care system. [00:48.96]Congress quickly approved [00:51.25]an economic recovery bill. [00:53.53]Yet unemployment remains [00:55.77]high at ten percent. [00:58.21]The Obama administration now [01:01.40]faces the earthquake relief effort [01:04.18]in Haiti and the threat [01:06.04]of terrorism at home. [01:07.90]There was a failed attempt [01:10.48]to bomb a plane on its way [01:12.64]to Detroit, Michigan, [01:14.29]on Christmas Day. [01:15.83]"As president, [01:18.05]I have a solemn responsibility [01:19.49]to protect our nation and our people. [01:21.48]And when the system fails, [01:22.74]it is my responsibility." [01:24.48]President Obama [01:25.52]campaigned on a promise of [01:27.51] "change we can believe in. [01:30.55]His high public approval ratings [01:33.49]have fallen in recent months. [01:36.13]A poll by Quinnipiac University [01:39.67]in Connecticut found Americans [01:42.22]equally divided about his first year. [01:45.25]Peter Brown works at the university. [01:48.83]"They like Obama personally. [01:51.07]They think he is trustworthy and honest. [01:53.62]They think he is a strong leader. [01:54.99]They say they don't necessarily [01:56.95]agree with him on the issues [01:58.34]they are most concerned about. [01:59.58]They wish he would spend [02:01.36]more time on the economy. [02:02.25]They don't like the health care bill." [02:04.06]The Senate and House of Representatives [02:06.10]have each passed their own [02:08.45]health care legislation. [02:10.39]But there is no final bill. [02:13.06]And the Democrats [02:14.85]have a new problem [02:16.16]they had not expected. [02:18.22]A newly elected senator [02:20.77]is a Republican who [02:22.75]opposes the legislation. [02:24.64]Scott Brown won a seat [02:27.08]in Massachusetts that [02:29.16]had been held [02:30.00]by Democrat Ted Kennedy [02:32.60]for almost fifty years. [02:34.64]But more importantly, [02:36.98]Senate Democrats [02:38.27]lost their sixtieth vote. [02:40.53]Senators can threaten a bill [02:43.27]with unlimited debate [02:44.91]unless sixty senators [02:47.25]voteto prevent it. [02:48.90]President Obama had campaigned [02:52.32]for the Democratic candidate [02:54.31]in Tuesday's special Senate [02:56.66]election in Massachusetts. [02:58.66]Experts say [02:59.81]one of the lessons is that [03:02.66]even though the economy [03:04.15]has improved, [03:05.31]it demands more attention. [03:07.70]David Wasserman [03:09.69]from the Cook Political Report [03:11.69]in Washington was a guest [03:13.70]on VOA's "Encounter" program. [03:16.68]"I don't think President Obama [03:18.43]and the Democrats were expecting [03:20.17]to have to spend so much time [03:21.32]on health care because [03:22.96]it is dragging on. [03:24.09]And in the eyes of [03:25.34]a lot of Americans, [03:26.19]this is not really dealing [03:27.48]with the economy. [03:28.35]This isn't bringing back jobs." [03:29.89]During his first year, [03:31.58]President Obama angered conservatives [03:34.82]who saw him as unwilling [03:37.09]to compromise on issues [03:39.14]like health reform. [03:40.63]Yet some liberals saw him [03:44.42]as too willing to compromise. [03:46.63]They were disappointed [03:49.02]with decisions like sending [03:51.12]more troops to Afghanistan [03:53.02]and not closing the Guantanamo Bay prison. [03:57.21]Many political experts [03:59.60]are mixed in their opinions. [04:01.55]But Larry Sabato at the University [04:04.55]of Virginia says not to judge [04:07.03]too much from the first year. [04:09.59]"If you look back in history [04:12.41]you will find that many presidents [04:14.10]who were enormously popular [04:15.75]in that first year became [04:17.05]failed presidents over time. [04:19.93]Other presidents who were not [04:21.87]terribly popular in their first year [04:23.60]and had lots of controversies [04:25.06]served two full terms [04:26.50]and went out of office [04:28.54]in a reasonably positive way." [04:30.98]Congressional elections [04:32.92]will be held in November, [04:34.66]and Republican gains are likely. [04:37.55]Smaller Democratic majorities [04:40.35]could force the president [04:42.76]to reach out to the opposition [04:44.55]and to conservatives in his own party. [04:48.13]And that's IN THE NEWS [04:49.79]in VOA Special English. [04:52.59]I'm Mario Ritter.