As Barack Obama celebrates his 50th birthday on Thursday, there is no shortage of things he could wish for. Liberals in his political base see him as a pushover who was outmanoeuvred at every turn in the standoff over the debt ceiling; the US economy appears to be stagnating; and the president’s poll numbers hit an all-time low this week.
Some are questioning if the man who sailed into the Oval Office as an agent of change has instead been changed by the ways of Washington. A Pew research poll showed that 72 per cent of US citizens summed up the budget standoff with words like “stupid” and “disgusting”, and a third have come away from the ordeal with a diminished view of Mr Obama.
His hand seems weakened, not just because his policy objectives were overridden by Republicans in the final agreement to raise the debt ceiling – indeed, most US citizens agree with the president’s call for tax increases, according to the polls – but by the impression that he has failed to lead.