First 100 Days Will be Key to Obama Presidency

Look for President Obama to pursue his electoral mandate to fix the economy and health care in 2009 in a historic moment nearly comparable to the beginning of the Roosevelt administration in 1933, says Dr. David Lanoue, chair of the political science department at The University of Alabama. Jumping into these issues during the first 100 days in office will be a key to Obama’s presidency.

“It’s especially important now,” Lanoue says. “People need to feel that something is going to happen. It’s not like the Depression, but it’s the closest thing we’ve had since the 1930s, when Franklin Roosevelt took office. And what Roosevelt did best was he went in and took charge, and he and the Congress worked to get legislation out there and reassure people that something was happening. The first thing Obama is going to do is make moves to make sure people know something’s happening. The economic stimulus package, of course, is the most obvious. If that hasn’t been passed before he gets into office, it will be passed once he’s there.”

Although economic stimulus probably will come in the first 100 days, Lanoue says, health care might take longer. But by the end of 2009, a plan should be under consideration.

“Obama came in with basically two mandates,” Lanoue says. “The first one is to fix the economy. The second is to fix health care. I don’t think we’ll see any serious health-care legislation during the first 100 days, but I think we will see it by the end of 2009.”

As Obama taps former Clinton administration officials for office, his supporters on the left may quibble, Lanoue says. But Obama will come in with a great deal of good will from his supporters that should last well into his presidency.

“His supporters are going to give him a lot of room,” Lanoue says. “The liberal blogs aren’t happy right now. They’d like to see more of their own people in place and fewer of the Clintonistas. But his supporters have faith in Obama, and Obama can keep that faith as long as he delivers a stimulus package and as long as he can get health-care reform on the table by the end of ’09. I think we’re going to see Obama become much more successful in health-care reform than certainly the Clintons were in 1993.”

As for the future of the Republican Party, Lanoue sees GOP leaders avoiding immediate confrontation with the Obama administration. “The Republicans are going to give him a fair amount of room at first — more than they gave Clinton. Thy will not want to seem obstructionist for the first year,” he says.

Republicans, meanwhile, will use this period to sort out internal conflicts and begin to rebuild.