CHAAAAANNNNGGEEE!!! YOU KNOW IT!!!

Nick’s post from the other day got me thinking about what an upcoming Obama Administration will look like and how Mr. Obama will govern. Some disjointed thoughts:

Like most functioning democracies, in the United States, it's better to work for incremental, meaningful, and calculated reform than any sort of systemic change. The US Executive has considerable power, but that power is constrained by the institutional quirks of and large number of veto players in the American political system. It is also important to remember that the President represents the American people. There is a strong appetite for a larger government role in the economy and society given our current woes, but Mr. Obama would do well to remember that the US is essentially a center or center-right nation. I’m not saying that there aren’t policy areas where significant reform would be welcome (climate, energy, and education all spring to mind), but Mr. Obama risks squandering valuable political capital by proposing changes that offend popular sentiment (HilaryCare springs to mind.)

Fortunately, I think he understands this. His advisers are the cream of the Democratic Party establishment, but most of them have been around for years and cut their teeth during the Clinton Administration. To me, this sends a strong signal about prioritizing competence and experience over ideology or grandiose but unworkable plans. I should add that I appreciate the calculus behind the Clinton pick at State and am reasonably optimistic that it will work out fine.

Barack Obama strikes me as a highly intelligent, capable, and confident man poised to govern from the country’s political center. Like Nick,

I voted for the man based on my belief that his Presidency would represent a
return to a thoughtful administration, open to debate among passionate and
intelligent academics with equal weight given to voices, despite their
ideological leanings.

I’m still optimistic that this will largely be the case, save a few issue areas that I will refrain from discussing here.

(I'm in London for business and the LSE graduation ceremony this week, so posting from me will be light.)