Progressive anxieties over Obama

Neil over at Cogitamus has apparently spent the last several months reading my brain scans.

The reason why there's so much wailing and gnashing of teeth among progressives about Obama's mainstream domestic policy proposals is that we have a decent chance of having 60 Senate seats after 2010 (or even earlier if we get super lucky), and Obama isn't likely to take full advantage of the opportunity. Certainly, we're not in 1932 when you need to satisfy public demand for a complete reordering in order to win an election.

But we have our policy dreams, and Obama seems poised to blow the big opportunity to satisfy them. This is one of the reasons why it took me a while to decide on Obama after Edwards dropped out -- for all his foreign policy excellence, I was giving up on the best health care plan possible.

Yep.

We've both come around though and I am beginning to feel genuinely excited about the prospects of an Obama presidency. Not so much for pure policy reasons as much as I feel hat his election:

1. Could bring about a generational shift away from boomer-era politics and will

2. Break the cycle of national Democrats electoral prospects being held captive by a hundred thousand voters in the Rust Belt.

Expanding the map and moving past Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and the Bushes would benefit not just the Democratic Party but also the nation. We're living in the 21st Century but our politics are caught up in 35 year old frames, debates and electoral strategy.

So even if Obama himself does not manage to usher in a host of new left of center policies his election will undoubtedly move the ball in a significantly positive direction. Sea changes do not occur over night, at the very least we are laying the groundwork for a more progressive future.