Pablo Pardo in which he unequivocally described the reform approved by the Senate as “modest”, in that it discarded the public option in the new health system. “The President is attempting to gloss over his failure, a relative failure since in truth he never attempted to pressurise the Senate to approve the reform, stating that he never gave the least importance to public . But Obama looks forward to 2010 with his reformist agenda advancing at a snail’s pace in a country increasingly disappointed in his style of leadership”. Two days later, the Christmas Eve edition had suggested that “between reality and utopia, Obama has opted for a middle way allowing him to fulfil his electoral promise”.
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The press elsewhere in Europe was considerably less critical and more enthusiastic. Andrew Sullivan, in the 24 December edition of The Times, focused his analysis on the President himself, declaring that “Obama moves mountains”, given that this was the “most significant legislative reform in the country since the 1930s”. According to the British newspaper, “it after all represents a major intervention by the Government in the life of the citizens, constituting a substantial change after three decades of Conservative government. It should be remembered that America is a huge and awkward machine, designed staunchly to resist change”. On the same day the French publication Le Monde (France, 24/12) described the Senate’s vote in