Obama: Prom King

New Trier doesn't do homecoming kings or queens, but I think it's evident America does.  We still have two more years, but coming up in 2016 is the next presidential election.  Remember back in 2008 when Obama won the election?  History in the making.  Back then, his approval rating was 10% above the average president's, at an all time high of 69% in January of 2009.  Now; however, Obama's approval rating has fallen to below George W. Bush's after his reelection- at a whopping 41% approval rating, less than half the pollers.  How does something like this happen?  Evidence points to this being more of a popularity contest than a presidential election.  We all know America is a very competitive place, capitalism in itself is built on competition.  Being the "most (blank)" of anything requires some competition to get there so just like Obama all presidents (in most cases) won by being, obviously, the more popular of all the candidates.  Obama won by appealing to the masses, something obviously very important in the election, but how and why?  He made a lot of promises, many of which he has fulfilled, but there are still a lot of things forever spiraling downhill that need attention.  We don't know if John Mccain, Mitt Romney, or even Hillary Clinton would make better presidents, but what we do know is at this point not nearly as many people are agreeing with Obama as used to.  Presidents can make a lot of promises before election, but the ones that keep them are the ones that go down in history as the great ones.  We are currently still fighting in the war on terror, the war on drugs, and whatever other wars the U.S. deems worthy to step in and help out with.  In 2013, $37 billion dollars were spent on foreign aid, $750 billion were spent on the war on terror, and the war on drugs more than $20 billion.  If you ask me, that's a lot of billions being spent on things other than the well being of the American people who seriously need it.  While it is indeed important to fight the terrorists and help other countries, there are still people on our streets who need the president they voted for to help them out, so that they are able to give back later instead of being a burden for others.  While I don't necessarily think Obama has been going about things wrong, I do feel like he should be trying to help the people out first who vote for him rather than spending large chunks of the U.S's money on foreign affairs.  In all fairness, he was left with a lot of problems and in that middle east it seems wars and violence keep springing up everywhere- definitely keeping him occupied.  On the other hand, when your popularity drops by a third over the course of three years, it may be time to rethink the strategy.  Take yourself back to the fifth grade, did you think about both opposing candidates?  Or did you want him to win to be the first black president?  I sure thought the ladder, but then again it was only the 5th grade.

(Sources: Approval polls, foreign spending, war on terror)