I'll admit to being swept up in the thrill of Obama beating the favored Clinton for the nomination in 2008 and his successful campaign. It did inspire.
But, once elected, he infuriated me with his willingness to reach out to the other side who almost instantly proclaimed their mission was to destroy his presidency. Why is he spending so much time with Boehner and Wall Street folks? He stopped his preacher-style mien, and just dealt with famously boring details of governing and trying to pass legislation.
But despite all the mockery from the right--I need to take an antacid when I think of Sarah Palin saying "How's that hopey-changey thing working out for you?" , and the blatant appeal to this country's racist history, in the end, he did change things. Legislation was passed that was thought unthinkable-healthcare, gay rights, economic policies that saved us from a total meltdown.
And honestly, I thought, at the first debate, he might have been throwing in the towel. Despite his experience with Republican Congress snakes, he wasn't prepared for his opponent to grab onto theatricality and get a bump with his used-car salesman tactics.
But in an almost zen-like way, he found his voice again and decided just to do his job. And be himself again. Intelligent and practical. Doing the incremental changes, instead of promising the world another Shock Doctrine plan.