President Obama

It has only been a few years since the "yes we can" wave made landfall in Washington, DC, ushering in Barack Obama and a broad sense of hope, after two long Bush administrations, during which progressives were increasingly alienated and frustrated. While President Obama was marketed, during the last campaign, as a liberal politician, his political stances on everything from same-sex marriage to economic policy and health care reform, were more centrist. So while hope and change led the day, for 2012 he will have to struggle against whatever cynicism has formed since 2008, and battle what many see as a disappointing track record in his first administration. So what are the messages we're likely to see from his campaign management this time around?

The emergency contraceptive pill is now mandatorily available at US military bases worldwide. I would think there are a lot of us out there who assumed - as government employees in a situation detrimental to their health in a whole range of ways - that all US soldiers would have access to the best of health care and any prescription drugs they wanted.