Over before it begins

Matt Stoller makes it official: Obama isn't a progressive, and there's a good chance he'll be a really crappy president. No worries, though:

We have a variety of problems in the progressive movement, but several of them are changing quickly. The 50 state strategy has reshaped the party apparatus and grassroots, and the homogenized boomer white leadership structure is changing quite quickly both racially and generationally this cycle. That is exceptionally good. There's a lot of work to do yet, including building much stronger links with elements of the corporate world and a renewed need for strong gender diversification, but at a certain point, the progressive movement will be big enough to regularly influence and even change policy. And then we're going to be able to proactively shape the agenda of all politicians.

I'm with Anglachel in being skeptical of the creative-class progressivism advocated by Stoller's crowd. Too many traditional New Deal constituencies get left behind. But even if the new kids on the block aren't as bad as I think they are, why would Obama let them have the car keys just because he seems to be running the country into a ditch? He's consolidating his power and rebranding the party with the full consent of Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean and the rest of the Democratic invertebrates. They like their cushy jobs.