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In
politics, it is said, there are no permanent friends, or enemies, only
permanent interests. Barack Obama’s America, as appraised by last week’s
mid-term elections, is clear proof that no politician should count on enduring
allegiance from the electorate. A country which wholeheartedly rejected the
Republicans two years ago, now seems to have swung their anger in the opposite
direction. Many Americans – enough to make an electoral difference – seem
convinced that the revolution is now in need of a revolution.

Making the
rounds in America, on bumper stickers, T-shirts and banners, are chilling
slogans like these: ‘I’ll Keep My Guns, Freedom, & Money… You Can Keep
The “Change!’; ‘Don’t blame me, I voted for Palin’; ‘One Big Ass Mistake,
America’ (which form the acronym: OBAMA).

The
question on the minds of many is the one that The Economist asked in a recent
article: “How did it come to this?” Indeed, where did it all go wrong? Where,
to borrow the words of that Igbo proverb made famous by Chinua Achebe, did the
rain begin to beat Mr. Obama’s dreams and promises? The jury’s still out on
that, and understandably so.

For one,
politics tends to resist attempts to clinically isolate causes and allocate
blame. Second, one must keep in mind the dreadful state of the American economy
at the time that he took over. It can very easily be argued that the rain
started well before the emergence of Mr. Obama.

There is
no doubt that last week’s elections have dealt a massive blow to Mr. Obama and
all that he stands for. Yet, we strongly believe that that does not spell the
end of the road for the Obama administration. Far from it. He now has the
chance to go into the second half of his 4-year term a wiser and less tentative
leader.

The first
half of his tenure has shown that two years is an eternity in contemporary
politics. So we expect him to realise that just as a lot of goodwill and hope
have been squandered since 2008, there is also the strong possibility that by
the all-important November 2012, when he will expectedly seek a second and
final term in office, he will have fulfilled most – if not all – of the initial
‘Yes We Can’ promise.

He will,
of course, recall that only a decade and half ago, fellow democrat, Bill
Clinton, faced a similar situation. In 1994, two years into the Clinton
presidency, the Democrats lost 54 House of Representatives seats and 8 Senate
seats to the Republicans, automatically forfeiting the leadership of both
chambers.

In spite
of this, and of the fact that Mr. Clinton would end up serving six of his eight
years with a Senate and Congress controlled by Republicans, he went on to win a
second term in 1996, and left office with an approval rating that was higher
than that of any US President since the second World War, and almost twice that
with which George W. Bush would leave office eight years later.

Mr. Obama
can at least be grateful that his party still maintains control of the Senate.
We commend the equanimity with which he has taken the verdict of the electorate:
he has promised to work with the new leadership of the House, even though that
leadership sounds far less keen to be cooperative.

He should
remember former New York Governor Mario Cuomo’s words: “You campaign in poetry;
you govern in prose.” By now we believe he has learnt that well-crafted words
and speeches, while able to rouse people and make them giddy with excitement,
will not lift a finger to help in the challenging task of governance.

Mr. Obama
ought to consult the average Nigerian to get an idea of how helpless promises
are in breaking the chains of poverty and joblessness. Indeed, if promises were
all that countries needed for transformation, America would today be looking up
to Nigeria.

He should
remember these words from his victory speech two years ago: “The road ahead will be long. Our
climb will be steep. We may not get
there in one year or even in one term… There will be setbacks and false
starts… And we know the government can’t solve every problem. But I will
always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you,
especially when we disagree.”

When the
going gets tough(er), in the months ahead – as it surely will, considering the
disgraceful scare-mongering that the Republican party sometimes resorts to; and
the needless recalcitrance that has too often marked its relationship with Mr.
Obama – Mr. Obama should remember the ordinary people of America, and make a
decision to listen to them more often, and with greater seriousness.

Weren’t
they the ones he offered the promise of “change” in the first place?