After bemoaning that Pres.-elect Obama may turn out not to be the Knight in Shining Armor of High Liberalism, William Greider laments, correctly: "Those of us who expected more were duped, not so much by Obama but by our own wishful thinking."
Correct-amundo. I never could understand how the High Liberals thought then Sen. Obama was all that liberal to begin with. His actual record on progressive issues is virtually identical to Hillary Clinton's, and much shorter in length.
So yes, it was "wishful thinking." Candidate Obama was a tabula rasa onto which the High Left wrote their own aspirations and fantasies. He's black, he's cool--(as are we)--and he must be liberal too! They mistook their own projections for reality.
In fact, Barack Obama has been mostly a centrist politician, with the occasional liberal impulse, all along. To the extent that he has a legislative record, he's been more a coalition-builder than a crusader.
Personally, unlike Greider, I give Pres.-elect Obama high marks on the transition. His appointments so far have been generally centrist, but also stellar--people with whom you might not always agree, but people who at least know something about what they're supposed to be doing.
Would I like to see a little more ardent progressive fervor? Yes, I suppose--in some areas at least, and he may well get there before it's all over. But did I expect it? No. Based on the Obama record, there was no reason to.