The issue has been on the down low, and the concern has been incremental. Does Barack Obama really represent the change he talked about during the campaign? For some liberals/progressives, the answer is at best hazy, and at worst no. The president-elect's cabinet choices, and his switch on reversing tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year are giving some folks pause. For his part, Obama and some of his supporters say it's way too early to judge. Is it?
His backers in the labor movement point out that when he introduced his economic team, he didn't appoint a labor secretary. Some think that omission signals a lesser role for a constituency that backed him with votes and money. Then there's the appointment of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, and the retention of Robert Gates at the Pentagon. The grumbling here is that Obama could be waffling on his pledge to start ending the Iraq war on his first day in office.
Of course, he hasn't had a first day in office yet. And no matter what his economic and national security teams look like, it will be Barack Obama setting policy. Still, the man who promised change as a candidate doesn't seem so committed to change as president. Then there's the question of what change was promised, and what was expected. If the change is from the Bush years, a case can be made he's setting about that, even with the retention of Gates. After all, does anyone think a massive economic stimulus package would be on the current president's agenda?
However, if people interpret Obama's promise of change to be something more fundamental, it should come as no surprise that some people find him lacking. Right now, every appointment and utterance from this president-elect is going to be heavily scrutinized. The nation's economy has fallen down a deep hole, and in the end, that's the change people will most want to see. Last month, the number of people losing their jobs jumped to 533,000. Change may best be measured not in cabinet appointments, but in putting people back to work.
What do you think?
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I knew Barack Obama was a centrist since his speech at the Dem.National Convention of 2004. When Kucinich dropped out, and after I heard Obama's Philadelphia race speech in July,2008, I backed Obama, knowingly.
Two comments I have heard that I like, in reply to your questions, Mr. Riley. Phyllis Bennis (of IPS-DC)said yesterday,(interview on "Beyond the Pale") that Obama has been clear in his words on foreign policy. People should not read more into what he's said. But, there's "space to push". She also said that Robert Gates is troubling in that he supports a new generation of nuclear weapons development.
I've been taking the position: I'll give Obama some time, since he's not in office yet. But, I'm getting my peace art ready....
On the domestic front: am scared like most everybody else.
Only the rich don't have to worrry.
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