Ezra Klein and Kevin Drum are a little further from the mark than a man who knows Obama intimately - Cass Sunstein. The former colleague of Obama's on the UChicago Law faculty has labeled Obama a "visionary minimalist"; a clunky label for an elegant concept.

In essence, Sunstein is urging pundits not to mistake Obama's relatively conservative approach to change for a lack of ambition or vision. That's a mistake we saw innumerable commentators make during the elections, as they mistook Obama's consensual rhetoric for evidence that he lacked the spine to run an effective campaign. They couldn't have been more mistaken. Obama's steady hand revealed his rivals as inconstant; his gradual approach was also an inexorable one.

There's been a good discussion of this on a thread that I started yesterday, and I'd urge your readers to take a look.

Kevin Drum has been wrong more often than he's been right for the entire last 8 years.

Love Kevin but he's so damn cautious that he sees everything that way. Kevin is -

well, wimpy.

I know what I want: National health care reform, new investments in infrastructure and green energy, a strong cap-and-trade on global warming, swift removal of our troops from Iraq, and passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. All by the end of 2009, ideally.

I also know that I want Obama to have a successful presidency. And that his judgment throughout the campaign has been outstanding.

So for now, I'm inclined to think we need to give him some space and give him the benefit of the doubt.

And be ready to push Congress to act swiftly on these and other priorities.

People talk about him being overambitious ala Clinton, but I would like to think that we can expect a very ambitious first 100 days, in the vein of FDR. Some things will work, other won't, but the point is, he will be driven and ambitious.

He has more political capital to lose through inaction than over-ambition, because folks have high expectations of what he will be able to do.

I want civil unions, a green new deal that creates green jobs, single payer healthcare, us out of Iraq, infastructure work- more jobs, and freaking tariffs on trade.

It will be interesting to see how quick the media honeymoon will be...Given that we have to endure the next 75 days before Barack's Inauguaration, it is hard to imagine the jackals will be able to stay off the kill for very long. Kumbayah(sp?) will not last very long in a new media landscape with every news org fighting for relevance and viewers now that the campaigns are over.

Don't forget the not-so-subtle policies that overtly reach across to Republicans. I expect these within the first 100 days.

I think Obama will want to avoid an era of extreme partisanship which would not only make re-election more difficult, but would make passing effective legislation impossible.

Then again, the GOP may dig in their heals and say "Screw this guy, we're not going to let him pass anything" in hopes of getting back a Republican majority in 2010.

I want a puppy.

(I swear, over the cheers of the crowd where I was at, because of my drunken ears, that Obama promised us all a puppy.)

Obama advisers are reportedly resolved to avoid the over-reaching that plagued the first years of the Bill Clinton presidency. The need to preserve political capital for wrenching foreign-policy challenges could also weigh against ambitious domestic initiatives.

Misguided, if true.

Obama has demonstrated his probable direction, which, especially during the debates, irked some people including me. He never went for the kill in the debates, though McCain gave him ample, clear opportunities. He treated the campaign as a marathon and simply outdistanced McCain who took a boxer's perspective, concentrating on jabs and hoping for a knockout. I think Obama will continue running. If the campaign was a marathon, so too will be the presidency. Obama knows he must do all he can to unite Americans, unlike Bush who was going to be president to all of us, and then proceeded to ignore and actually harm the majority of the population. Obama may not move as fast toward reform as I would like, but his administration will put great effort into being inclusive, a breath of fresh oxygen after eight years of divisive Bush arrogance and CheneyRove manipulation. Bush played Monopoly with the accumulated inheritance of all our American forbearers (that means YOUR money), and squandered almost every last bit of it. While the rest of the globe was playing Go (and a thousand other games), Bush had the entire gameboard stolen from him as he was focused on his next "acquisition". McCain would have continued that. Obama will have to lead America back into a global perspective, and I can really think of no better person to do it.

I know a president is capable of doing more than one thing at once, but doesn't Obama have a funeral to attend? The press needs to come down from its content-free, speculation-driven saturation election coverage and just chill.

Ok I have had some time to consider the sheer enormity of this great event in our history and after all my thoughts I am left with one image albeit a bit of fantasy...Somewhere high above I believe two man are sharing a cold beer watching Obama with huge smiles and those two? Abe and MLK.

Hi everyone- longtime reader, first time poster-

This is my opinion, but as long as President Obama (I love saying that) is honest with us and tells us like it is, I have no problem with giving him time get things straightened out. The mess he is walking into will be a daunting one to fix. All we ask for is honesty and openess in dealing with us. Let us know where we stand and what we need to do, and we will do it.
BTW- HussienTenaX- love your posts and am damn near giddy getting a chance to tell you how much I enjoy reading them.

I think if we've learned anything about Obama's approach, it's that he's brilliant at rejecting and transcending binary alternatives. I expect we'll all be scratching our heads at whether he's being radical and transformative or cautious and pragmatic - but I'm hopeful that both camps will be certain that he's doing it their way

that last post from me was for HussienTenaX, I gotta learn how to reply instead of post.

Patience is for Buzzards

Why are we waiting to solve the housing crisis?!!!!!

How much more does the economy have to go into the tank?
The ship is going down, and the crew in charge, is sitting around for the next shift to do the heavy lifting.

READY ON DAY ONE? REALLY? !!!
You’ve won!!!!!

Take over the Executive Chair in exile.
Boot this lame duck out of the room,show him the door. His leadership has failed to solve the crisis, we cannot wait, the ship of state is sinking by the minute, by the second.

Don't BooHoo, VOTE for a solution.

Obama should be out front on this issue NOW.

Enough of this pomp and regality, where are the solutions? TNT (Today not Tomorrow)

Put the pressure back on the Pelosi Congress, deal with the problems of today, this is not break time; get back to work, that’s what we’re paying you for. Electioneerig is over

LET THE BANKS FIND ANOTHER SOURCE OF REVENUE, NOT GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS.

If they don’t make loans they lose money.

The first priority!
Lower the interest rates on mortgages. If we keep giving the money to the banks, they have no incentive to lower them.

They have no incentive to make loans as long as WE the taxpayer, and prospective borrowers keep subsidizing, they’re failure to produce income.

What is this? Subsidizing those who fail to produce?

Why are WE the people being played as chumps?

Either the banks lower mortgage rates or WE the People subsidize the mortgage industry.

If subsidization is good for the bank it's good enough for us.

Issue a Bond like WAR BONDS,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_bond

http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/War+Bond

Or, just outright borrow from Social Security Monies, completely bypassing the banking industry.

If WE THE PEOPLE all decided to skip 1 or 2 months of mortgage payments, would this disrupt the financial market?

WHAT WILL OUR GOVERNENT DO THEN? GIVE MORE MONEY TO THE BANKS, OR FINALLY HELP THE PEOPLE?

So the bottom line is hat Erza and Drum are saying Obama is in all essentials a liar for talking about change.

I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would poo-poo Obama's presidency in such a manner.

Oh - wait - I could have.