Just 90 minutes after Air Force One left the Madison airport Wednesday, Mark Halperin, a senior political analyst for Time magazine, give his opinion on President Barack Obama's performance so far to an audience of UW-Madison students, faculty and community members.
According to Halperin, there have been many surprises during the first year of Obama's leadership, the largest of which was the economic crisis. Halperin said the importance of the economy has halted Obama's progress on many other important issues.
""You've seen several other big agenda items pushed off, some implicitly, some quite explicitly,"" Halperin said. ""The hope of the White House is to get to those things in short order, but it's clearly been a surprise to them how much of an issue this is.""
However, Halperin said the economic crisis has also been an incredible opportunity for Obama. He said although he is cautious of the lingering high unemployment rates, he believes Obama's greatest achievement so far has been ending the financial crisis.
Halperin said a major disappointment for him has been the lack of bipartisanship in Washington. He said he blames Obama for the polarization, saying Obama should do more to remove political barriers.
""It's not about policy,"" Halperin said. ""It's a culture and an attitude, and he has the capacity to change it, and for whatever reason, he did not.""
Although many liberals have been disappointed that the president has not pushed a more liberal agenda during his first months in office, Halperin said he is hopeful about the administration's push for universal health care.
""I really respect what they're doing on health care,"" he said. ""They're asking members of Congress to risk losing their seats ... That kind of risk is rare in today's political culture.""
Halperin said despite some challenges the president has faced so far, he believes Obama's real test has yet to come. He said he predicts more controversies and possible national security crises to be a challenge to Obama's character and political longevity.
Halperin's lecture, titled ""The Obama Report Card So Far: What's Surprising and What's Next,"" was this year's installment of the Nafziger Lecture Series, sponsored by the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
