BY MARK BOSHNACK
STAFF WRITER
On Tuesday, area residents
gave mixed opinions on Barack
Obama’s fi rst year as president,
with today marking the one-year
anniversary of his inauguration.
While eight people were
willing to share their thoughts,
a similar number declined the
opportunity.
“It’s still early to assess
Obama,” but he has made good
progress on his Democratic
agenda, Hartwick College political
science chairwoman Laurel
Elder said. But,
“I would say his
fi rst year was
very successful
given our political
system.”
This includes
equal-pay legislation,
the stimulus
package
and opening
health care to
more children, she said.
While cap-and-trade
legislation to address climate
concerns has been
passed by the House of
Representatives and both
chambers have passed
versions of health
care reform, the
measures need to
be reconciled. But
with various measures,
the system
does not give the
president a lot of
tools to carry out
his political agenda,
she said.
Davenport resident
Natalie Ciccariello,
48, said, “I think it’s been
good.”
The production worker
at the Covidien pharmaceutical
plant in Hobart
said she may not
agree with everything
he has done,
including war and
health care, but
“I don’t have any
complaints,” she
said.
Obama has
tried to address
problems with the
economy, she said,
but “it will take a while
for that to come around,
but he is doing the right
thing.”
Kevin Soucy, 45, of
Duanesburg, said he
would rather see
someone in office
who has better
served his county.
The small-business
owner said he
voted for Obama’s
Republican challenger,
John Mc-
Cain.
The self-described
conservative
said that Obama
is too concerned with
publicity and appearances.
“He is very safe
in his politics and
his beliefs,” he
said.
Even though he
has been in offi ce
for a year, Soucy
said, he has never
heard Obama
talk about his beliefs.
He would like to
see a “peaceful revolution,”
which brings in
politicians that have led
“real lives,” he said.
Lyle Bennett, 79, of
Sidney Center, described
himself as a Republican.
But he said Obama has
been doing “great.”
The retired lithographer
said with Obama as
president, “the economy
is beginning to pick up.”
While that may take a
while, “that would be
true no matter who is in
there.”
He also supports
Obama’s efforts for health
care reform. “There are
so many people who don’t
have it,” he said, “more
needs to be done.”
“I’m very disappointed
in him,” said Rosemarie
Gunther, 60, of Morris.
The retired tractortrailer
driver said Obama
has “not accomplished
anything that he has promised,”
including stopping
the war in Iraq.
This could have saved
money, which would be
used for other issues including
health care, she
said.
Something needs to
be done on that issue because
some people can’t
afford to go to the doctor,
she said.
“One year is not a lot
of time to get much done,”
said retail clothing salesman
Rob Westcott, 55, of
Oneonta.
While he said he does
not have a strong opinion
on the president yet, “he
inherited a real mess” on
such issues as the economy,
health care and overseas
wars, Westcott
said.
“I feel betrayed,”
Jack
Harmon, 81, of
Stamford. While
he didn’t vote for
Obama, the retired
advertising
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e
said he wished
Obama well after
the inauguration.
But with the plan to require
health care for all
Americans, “he has taken
away freedoms,” Harmon
said.
He also was
unhappy with the
amount of money
Obama’s administration
has spent
bailing out banks
and other financial
institutions.
“He wants to be
the ruler,” Harmon
said.
Two 18-year old
friends said they
were disappointed in the
president’s performance
during his fi rst year.
Cooperstown resident
Johanna Hasak, a freshman
at the State
University College
at Oneonta, said:
“He hasn’t done
much of anything.
He is a glorifi ed
celebrity.”
Zea Habercorn,
18, of Hartwick, a
freshman at the
State University
College of Technology
at Delhi, said:
“We were promised a lot
of things, including help
with the economy. Things
have gone downhill.”
Both said that
they were initially
hopeful that he
would do more to
end the war. With
fi ances in the military,
they would
like to see them
come home, they
said.
Rob Robinson,
Otsego County Chamber
president and chief executive
offi cer, said “a decision
is still out” on the
fi rst year of the Obama
presidency.
It remains to be seen
what the impact of health
care reform will be on
small businesses.
But, “there has been a
level of frustration that
the administration has
tried to do too much,”
Robinson said.
This has created an
“unstable environment,”
Robinson said, for small business
owners to decide
whether to invest in
and grow their businesses.
The expectations for
the modern presidency
are high and those
for Obama were higher
because he promised
hope and change, Elder
said.
It is also important to
remember that Obama
received about 53 percent
of the vote.
With his average approval
ratings at about
50 percent, people’s opinions
haven’t changed
much despite a busy first
year, she said.
“He hasn’t been the
transformative president
that he hoped to be,”
breaking through partisan
rancor, she said.
“I’m not sure anyone can
be.”
