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Following on my election eve post about how the current political moment is being defined by an "I Know What's Going On" angst, I wanted to flag this Wall Street Journal piece by John Fund headlined "Obama's Next Worry: A Restive Left Flank."
While I don't buy the idea that President Obama will face a primary challenge (despite polls showing a near majority of Democratic voters supporting one), I do think Fund is right that there will be - and should be - increasing post-election progressive pressure on Obama to deliver on his campaign promises. We will, of course, hear a lot of "wait until after the next election" nonsense that is the typical excuse for inaction - and we will hear that nonsense at a greater decibel level than ever because it will precede what is expected to be a closely fought 2012 election campaign.
But I think that will be countered by an invigorated progressive movement that is having a realization moment of its own. Indeed, it's not just the general public that has been saying "I Know What's Going On" - I think a lot of folks have had the very realization that Fund quotes from FireDogLake's Jane Hamsher. Obama, she says, has been "appropriating the progressive message, and then not governing as one."
This idea was expanded on in an earlier article by Naomi Klein, who made this astute observation:
This preference for symbols over substance, and this unwillingness to stick to a morally clear if unpopular course, is where Obama decisively parts ways with the transformative political movements from which he has borrowed so much (the pop-art posters from Che, his cadence from King, his "Yes We Can!" slogan from the migrant farmworkers - si se puede)...Obama, in sharp contrast not just to social movements but to transformative presidents such as FDR, follows the logic of marketing: create an appealing canvas on which all are invited to project their deepest desires but stay vague enough not to lose anyone but the committed wing nuts...
Brand Obama has been about social movements, transformative change, and upending the status quo. The Obama administration has been against social movements, opposed to transformative change and about defending the status quo. As more and more progressives realize that - ie. as more and more progressives start saying "I Know What's Going On" - there will be more and more pressure for action, not just words. And that's a good thing.
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