It would be illusory to think that in the next four years we will see a new Obama. For better or worse, he has shown enough consistency in some features of his presidency. In the last of the crisis of that period, the fiscal cliff, he resolved with the same sense of weight, balance, consensus-building that has never been exhibited previously.
People do not change overnight, and would, perhaps, unlikely to suddenly find a new beginning. But times and circumstances have conspired to require bolder actions to be taken by President Obama who intends to meet with success his second term and complete a historic class presidency.
Obama has proven in the past four years that if a leader wants to make significant changes he will have to make them alone. The most important of his first term, health care reform, went ahead without the votes of the opposition. — Said Temsamani, By e-mail
