By C. Nicole Mason

Healthcare reform—check. Overhauling America’s economic infrastructure and financial regulatory system—in process. Immigration reform—in the pipeline. Closing the educational achievement gap—working on it. Shuttering Guantanamo Bay—delayed until further review. Ending the war in Iraq and repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell—both on the radar.

Obama won election on a reformist platform. His ambitious agenda, coupled with his pledge to transform Washington and calls for bipartisanship, convinced many that a more evenhanded democracy and level playing field were within reach. However, over the past year, change has seemed to pour like cold molasses over a stack of pancakes.

Up until a few days ago, nothing was going according to plan. Obama and by extension his agenda couldn’t seem to catch a break. Obstinate Republicans, jockeying Democrats afraid to risk their seats in the upcoming midterm elections, and the newly formed tea bag movement have made his agenda seem nearly impossible to achieve. And those who got him elected–millennials, independents, people of color and progressives were beginning to get restless.

In fact, recent polls showed support of Obama slipping with his key demographics. Among millennials, a group he carried by a two-to-one margin over McCain in the general election, for example, his job approval rating has slipped, from a high of 73 percent in February 2009 to just 57 percent today. For millennials, the explanation for the decline in support is simple—change hasn’t happened fast enough. They like their change just like they like their communication—at 3G speed.

Among independents, his approval rating has declined 10 points—and it now stands at just 42 percent. And in some of the states he managed to flip in the general election—Virginia, Nevada and New Mexico, he is doing much worse; his approval rating hovers around 35 percent. Independents have no loyalty to either party. Losing the buy-in of independents can spell trouble down the road for Obama. He needs them to help push his agenda beyond partisan splits.

And although Obama maintains extraordinary levels of support among blacks and Latinos, there are rumblings that his agenda seems a little too universal and less specific at a time when unemployment is soaring in the black community and citizenship is out of reach for many immigrants.

To say that Obama needed a big, decisive win is understatement. And he got it in the passage of the healthcare reform legislation. With one fell swoop, he managed to simultaneously restore faith in his agenda and push back tea partyers who grossly underestimated his political will and fortitude.

So, what’s next? Judging from the fallout from the healthcare legislation, we still have a long way to go. For Obama, it will take grit, discipline, and perseverance to move his agenda. For our part, we have to be prepared for the time it takes to overhaul a system, shift a culture and correct inequalities that have been festering for generations. There’s no way around it.

Because of the lack of responsiveness from the previous Administration to the needs of those who pushed Obama to victory, it seems as though change can’t come soon enough. However, it is important to remember it has only been a little over a year since Obama took office. There are so many balls in the air; it is hard to tell which one to catch next. Is the economy more important than immigration than healthcare reform or ending the war? It depends on whom you ask.

I am not so much into polls as much as I am into sensing the mood of a moment. Obama needed a game change—something that would shift the mood from angst and pessimism to hope once more. And he got it. The passage of the healthcare reform legislation signals that reform and change are inevitable, and that it is just a matter of time.

Dr. C. Nicole Mason is the Executive Director of the Women of Color Policy Network at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.