Garrett says:

So what could Obama, aided by a strong Democratic coalition and a message of change, possibly do? The possibilities are staggering. If it does come to pass, the administration will no doubt go down as one of the most transformative in American politics. Because, in the end, American politics really hasn’t seen any new ideas in the past twenty years… under Obama, the years 2009–2017 might find themselves entered into the historical record as a definitive era in the liberal politics of the United States.

Well, yeah, OK… but… take a cold shower, dude.

Barack Obama is marginally progressive. We’re in Tom Daschle territory here. His policy team is, if anything, technocratic in orientation, and his ideological message has focused more on non-partisan “unity” than anything else. What kind of change are we really talking about? Are we going to reform the tax code and make the rich pay up? Regulate business (for labor and/or environmental reasons?) Lay out a non-interventionist foreign policy? Reinvest seriously in public education (and higher education) without vouchers or such bullshit? Enact single-payer universal health care? Etc.?

I don’t see that. All those things are wayyy too partisan and divisive for this crowd, not to mention frightening to a Democratic caucus that still contains a whole lot of deadwood. Sweeping policy change is just not realistic in this environment. I see the Obama campaign in the same position as the last Great Liberal Hope — Clinton ’92 — which came in with all this dreamy-eyed enthusiasm, but then one thing led to another, and they wound up making a signature issue out of freaking welfare reform. History repeats itself. I can see, four years from now, Obama’s Democratic Party being very very excited about the fact it balanced the budget, implemented cap & trade, and maybe created some penny-ante health care subsidy, yippee…

We’re talking about building a 21st century liberal/progressive consensus. That’s great. But that takes decades, and that’s not going to happen because of one guy’s presidential campaign; it will require a dedicated grassroots movement to push the Democratic Party substantially leftward, and to change the turf on which the political game is played. When I read that Obama is consolidating the entire party infrastructure behind himself & his team, and is actively urging his big donors not to give to independent groups, I worry that our focus is slipping too much into the short term; one center-left administration is simply not going to revolutionize a corporate-dominated, characteristically centrist political establishment. All the excitement about 2008 seems to be making us forget that fact.

There will undoubtedly be things to celebrate in an Obama administration, and compared to any Republican he’s a sure bet. But he’s not a leftist and he’s not magic; progressives need to keep our eyes on the ball and ensure there’s a movement in the discourse permanently leftward long after President Barack is gone.