Barack Obama approaches the Presidency at a critical moment
in American history, facing simultaneous crises of war, the
environment, health care, but most especially in the
economy. If he is able to rise to the moment, he could join
the ranks of a small handful of previous presidents who
have been truly transformative, succeeding in fundamentally
changing our economy, society, and democracy for the better.
But this will require imaginative and decisive action as
Obama takes office, action bolder than he has promised
during his campaign, and will be all the more difficult
given the undertow of conventional wisdom in Washington and
on Wall Street that resists fundamental change. Decades of
regressive politics and political gridlock have left
America in its most precarious situation since the onset of
the Great Depression. The collapse of the housing bubble
continues, as does the financial meltdown it triggered; a
revival of 1970s style stagflation threatens; incomes
continue to lag behind inflation; our household and
international debts pile higher; disastrous climate change
looms; energy and food prices continue their escalation;
and the ranks of un- and under-insured Americans grow, the
clearest, and most heartless, example of America’s
destructive inequalities.
Solutions to our multiple challenges do exist, but they
won’t be found in overly cautious or expedient quick fixes.
With his exceptional skill at appealing to our better
angels, Barack Obama could be the right leader at the right
time to re-awaken America to the renewed promise of shared
prosperity coupled with responsibility towards future
generations and the international community with whom we
share the Earth. Invoking America’s greatest leaders,
Robert Kuttner explains how Obama must be a transformative
president—or a failed one.
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