Obama = The Man

So says South Florida, according to an article in yesterday's Miami Herald highlighting South Floridians reaction to President Obama's first 100 days. I have to say it was a pretty fair piece, all things considered.

There are several comments from South Florida residents sprinkled through the article, most in favor of Obama's performance thus far, but a few against, especially those pesky Tea Party attendees:

''The government is too big and getting bigger, and someone's going to have to pay for it,'' said Don Lovern, 83, a retired airline pilot who stood with his wife, Nancy, among some 800 people waving flags and homemade signs at motorists during the ''Tea Party'' protest in front of a Doral post office.

Lovern, a registered Democrat who voted for GOP presidential nominee John McCain, said Obama's bailouts are wasteful and increase the direct role of government in private enterprise to a risky degree.

''When the government gets into running private companies, we're treading on dangerous ground,'' Lovern said.

The last quote is quite telling for a couple of reasons:

Many Obama supporters dismiss the critics' cries as a backlash from conservatives in an unaccustomed position: out of tune with the majority.

After years in the political wilderness while the GOP dominated national politics, Barnett Hibnick, the Miami lawyer who describes herself as ''unabashedly liberal,'' sounds amazed to find that a president willing to undertake aggressive government action to correct social and economic problems has a majority of Americans behind him.

''I think he combines brilliance with pragmatism. He really is disarming the Republicans,'' Barnett Hibnick said, adding with a laugh: ``It's been quite a while since I've been in the mainstream.''

I'm amazed too, Ms. Hibnick. Then again, Americans are patient and fair-minded people who'll give most anything a shot. But if you think Republicans are being "disarmed" (it only took 100 days for Democrats to regain their cocky strut, eh?), just wait until Obama "amazing" government expansion really kicks in. That's when Americans' patience will come to an end, and you'll be back in the political wilderness before you know it.