President Obama 2013: "Bolder and Smarter"

President Obama will be sworn in for a second term on Monday, January 20th. He will take the oath of office in 2013 with a starkly different perspective than 2009.

He is less the president of unbridled hope -- "we are not a collection of blue states and red states, we are the United States." He is much more grounded and wiser: universal optimism has been replaced by pragmatic realism.

To say he understands the duplicity, intransigence and the unmitigated wackiness of his opposition (GOP) would be the understatement of the decade. The only finger lifted by the GOP during his first term was the middle finger to Obama, Democrats, middle/working class, immigrants and the poor.

The party of no wanted nothing more than to sabotage all things Obama!

What has emerged: Obama has become more bold, uncompromising and steadfast. He refused to blink or bat an eye in the fiscal game of chicken played by the leverage challenged Republican congress. He is rejecting the inside game by taking his agenda to the American people -- a la Ronald Reagan. He is no longer reluctant to use the bully pulpit.

Will Obama reboot pay more dividends? CNN contributor David Gergen asks the same question:

All of this has added up for Obama to one of the most effective transitions in modern times. And it is paying rich dividends: A CNN poll this past week pegged his approval rating at 55%, far above the doldrums he was in for much of the past two years. Many of his long-time supporters are rallying behind him. As the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to score back-to-back election victories with more than 50% of the vote, Obama is in the strongest position since early in his first year.

Smarter, tougher, bolder -- his new style is paying off politically. But in the long run, will it also pay off in better governance? Perhaps -- and for the country's sake, let's hope so. Yet, there are ample reasons to wonder, and worry. source

Many looming issues face our country from immigration to climate control to almost record high unemployment of young African-Americans -- not to mention a still some what fragile economy. These issues require a determined and resolute leader who stakes the higher ground instead of trying to appease the fringe right-wing crowd. Obama appears ready to fit the bill.

Now this is hope I can believe in!