America's First 100 Days

The first 100 days of a new President’s administration usually sets the tone for the rest of the term. Upon arriving at the 100-day mark, the President and his administration are picked apart by reporters and topics are discussed with the general public; opinion polls run heavily as citizens are polled on their feelings for the new administration. This year however, is a little different. The first 100 days of the Obama Administration are more important than almost any other administration’s. For this year, it is a milestone marked by the American people.

According to a NY Times/CBS Poll mentioned in a New York Times article, a majority of the American public now believes that race relations in the U.S. are heading in the right direction. According to the poll, in July 2008, 53% of Americans believed that race relations in the U.S. were good. Compare that to April 2009 results, which state that 66% believe that we are going down the right path to bridge the racial divide.

Let’s take a step back to the 2008 Presidential election. The voter turnout was much larger than any modern day Presidential election and the population of voters was more diverse. In a country essentially build on diversity; we were able to see election results based on many different groups of Americans. This is the way elections should take place. Democracy is about electing the right person for the job based on a majority of the citizens’ beliefs, no matter who that person is, what their race is, what their religious beliefs are, or what their background is.

The changes that are taking place during the Obama Administration didn’t start on day 1 of the administration’s term, they started on Election Day, when millions of Americans went to the polls and voted for the candidate they felt best to deliver the greatest results while honoring our democracy.

Though we are a long way from securing non-racial communities, we are now going down the right path, a path that was chosen by the American people on November 4, 2008. Thanks to those that voted their conscience, we can for the first time view the first 100 days of a new administration as “America’s first 100 days”. 

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