Obama's Achievements

With the '12 election about to take off, it's worth reflecting on a few of Obama's biggest achievements while in office. If you consider the "absolutely no compromise whatsoever" mentality of the far right, and the GOP is nothing but far right anymore, I find it pretty amazing what our president has been able to accomplish. In all, I suppose it's possible that some dynamic third-party candidate could sweep in and potentially grab my vote, but I see this as highly unlikely. Overall, I think our president has done a very, very good job, considering the circumstances. Here are just a few of his major accomplishments:

Restoring Our Image Worldwide : After eight years of kicking the world around at our leisure, President Obama almost immediately turned public opinion back in our favor. The United States is, once again, respected.

Health Care Reform : No it's certainly not universal health care, which will come in time. However, the legislation the president was able to get signed into law is a massive first step, one that I didn't think possible given our political climate.

Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" : Given the fear-mongering on the right, again, pretty amazing that the president put an end to this ridiculous "law."

Sotomayor and Kagan : Keeping a far too conservative court at least somewhat balanced.

Avoiding a Depression : Unemployment remains far too high, but the stimulus package, amongst other initiatives, brought us back from the edge of disaster.

Tobacco Regulation : A massive step towards putting the breaks on this insidious business.

This is simply a sampling. Should Obama win the 2012 election, with his political life seemingly over, it's incredibly exciting to imagine what he might be able to accomplish.