by scot cerullo

With his first year as President under his belt, many initial Obama supporters have become disillusioned over the unrealized Hope and Change that drove the 2008 campaign like nitrous oxide.

Obama supporters, independents and a great number of Democrats are scratching their heads because, having climbed this historic political mountain together, having signed on to various get-out-the-vote ground operations, now stand at the pinnacle of the mountain and, looking over the horizon, do not see the post-partisan, post-racial utopia Obama articulated repeatedly and promised unequivocally during his campaign .

The lofty rhetoric that told of a new way of doing business in Washington, the brilliant young leader promising to right the wrongs of past administrations and restore America’s good name in the world, well, it’s kind of fizzled out.

Still, he had a majority in the House of Representatives and a super-majority in the Senate, so clearly a few missteps wouldn’t affect the powerful change to come.

Yet somehow, despite all the talk, and there has been much of that, a year after the election unemployment remains at an amazing 9%, people are walking away from their homes, and health care, something consistently rated low on the list of priorities among people in poll after poll, seems to be the all-consuming agenda item of this dynamic new kind of politician.

Obama supporters have discovered that Obama is long on enunciating problems, but short on providing effective remedies. Supporters are finding out that all that talk of post-partisanship simply has not materialized. In fact and quite oddly, this new-breed-of-politician has polarized Washington and the electorate in a manner not seen in modern political history.

Some argue that by not reaching out to small business, indeed ignoring the inclusion of the free market in any of his large-scale, government solutions, Obama is actually exacerbating a recession that by now, by historical records, should be resolving itself.

I won’t list the many errors the Obama administration has made over the past 12 months. They are there for anyone who cares to turn on their computer, TV or pick up a newspaper.

What I will point out is that Obama is governing against the will of the people. Never in modern history have so many apolitical voters gathered en masse to exclaim their disapproval. From the Tea Parties that began in the spring of 2009, the Town Hall meetings which pitted frightened taxpayers against tin-eared elected officials, to the massive, historic, and highly under-reported march on Washington, Obama appears to want to wish these people and their concerns away in favor of his ideas, his plan for America.

But time has a way of providing nuance and context. Reasonable people may disagree about a given issue, but in total the voting public has moved from unbridled enthusiasm to quixotic, to anger and dismay. It’s become so bad that Obama has both the Left and the Right angry.

But the November mid-term elections are coming. And this time, many voters don’t just want to see the GOP win, they want to see conservatives win. In one short year they miss having a leader who respects the free market, small business, and the notion that working hard and earning good money is nothing one should apologize for.

While President Obama may have had no track record or resume prior to his election, he does now. And it is dismal. We have discovered that rather than being post-partisan, his is ultra-partisan, rarely allowing Republicans to contribute ideas. Remember when George Bush asked Ted Kennedy to help him write the Education bill? That kind of politics hasn’t been around for some time.

The recent regional elections in Massachusetts, New Jersey and elsewhere are setting precedents and screaming out to the nation that many voters cannot wait for November.

While I never believed in Obama’s world view or politics, and it saddens me that it’s taken his election to prove I may be right, I am comforted by the mass awakening that is taking place and hope that it translates into quality conservatives being elected in November.

Finally, I offer this caution: Voters are not looking for the same GOP candidates from before. They are looking for tough, conservative leaders who have the strength and fortitude to make the hard, unpopular decisions that too many politicians put off for another day.

Well, that day has come. As state after state goes bankrupt, those thinking of running for office would do well to take a cue from the newly elected Republican Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christi. His recent speeches and his plans for his state speak volumes about how we will need to proceed as a viable nation.

We already know the alternative as Obama is demonstrating it each day.