A recently released Wall Street Journal poll showed numbers that do not seem to bode well for President Obama. A majority of the country (55 percent) is not satisfied with the direction of the country. A majority of Americans also no longer want health care reform. His popularity has also dipped below 50 percent. Why? Because the “change we can believe in” has not come to fruition since he took office less than one year ago.

Really? Maybe it’s time for a reality check.

When Obama took office, he inherited two wars. One justified, Afghanistan, one not, Iraq. The second has cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars. Had that effort been expended in Afghanistan at the time, it is very likely the war on terrorism would look very different now. Instead, we have President Obama trying to finish the misguided war in Iraq while trying to put the U.S. in a better position in Afghanistan. This is a change and it is one people said they wanted.

The economy was going south under Bush and he really did nothing. His mantra, like the conservatives’ answer to all this country’s problems, was to let the free market take care of itself. Had we a true free market, that might have worked, but with corporate welfare in the form of tax breaks and subsidies, it has put the taxpayers on the hook long before any bailouts. Under Obama, the approach has been more to provide monies that provide jobs to get people working again. This is a change. The focus is on the public welfare, not further enrichment of business executives.

The finance industry was just about in free fall at the end of Bush’s term, aided and abetted by legislation passed under a Republican Congress in 1999 with the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Gone then were the oversight and separations of banking and investment activities. Bush certainly did nothing to rein anything in. He left this mess for Obama to clean up. Every attempt by Obama to reinstate oversight and controls has been met with huge resistance by the financial sector. Here is necessary change that is being attempted.

Health care reform has been an issue for decades now. There has been no substantial movement until now. Unfortunately, the right has hijacked the debate, making false claims such as death panels, thereby making any attempt to move forward all but impossible. Still, Obama has persevered and it looks like something may be passed. Getting any kind of health care reform is a huge change and it, too, was one people wanted.

The voters said they wanted change and they are getting it. Maybe not the way they envisioned nor at the pace they expected. Still, there is change.

The thing about change is that whether the change is good or bad, wanted or unwanted, people still have negative gut reactions to doing things differently.

sOver time, the change is accepted, but it is an adjustment.

Right now, it seems as if the understandable concerns folks have over the economy have put such fear into them that they are unable to deal with any change. It feels like the “devil you know” is better than the one you don’t.

That is too bad.

So, change has happened and is happening. And, all this has occurred in less than a year — in fact, in just a tad more than ten months. Considering all the opposition by the Republicans to anything proposed by Obama — so much so that they have been called the “party of no” — it says something about his commitment to advancing his ideas.

Frankly, even if nothing had transpired by this point, it has just been a pleasure to have a president who is thoughtful, deliberative and open to others’ views. The restoration of America’s reputation as a country that can work well with others is a change that has been long overdue. And that is something we can believe in.