Obama's Challenge:
America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency, by Robert Kuttner


(Click for Amazon book review)

OnTheIssues.org BOOK REVIEW:

We expected this book to be a perceptive analysis of the Obama campaign, since it won a prize (the Sidney Hillman Award), and since the author, Robert Kuttner, co-founded "The American Prospect," a well-respected liberal publication. Alas, the author is partisan rather than perceptive, and the book is fatally tainted by the author's biases. Some partisanship, and some punditry, are forgivable. But the fatal taint comes from the unforgivable--and politically inaccurate--partisanship of mischaracterizing "progressives" vs. "liberals."

Kuttner can be forgiven for some partisanship, since he's a well-known as a liberal Democrat. Perceptive readers recognize his partisanship in his statement describing Obama's activist use of government: "Which party is more likely to manage government in a way that doesn't arbitrarily diminish rights?" (p. 90). Well, which rights? Kuttner means gay rights, civil rights, labor rights, and so on. But a conservative could answer, "The GOP, of course, is less likely to diminish gun rights, free trade rights, and the right to life." After statements like Kuttner's above, readers acknowledge that Kuttner is writing an opinion piece, not an analysis piece, and thereafter read the book cautiously, differentiating Kuttner's opinions from analysis about Obama.

Kuttner can also be forgiven for some punditry, since he has earned his place as a pundit. He wrote this book during the 2008 election, and published it in August 2008, as "a citizen's open letter" to the Obama campaign. Kuttner admits his presumptuousness in predicting that Obama will win the election three months hence; readers acknowledge Kuttner's presumptuousness in thinking that the Obama campaign would care about his "open letter." After all, it's also an "open letter" to his fellow citizens, about how Obama would be a "transformative president" (that's Kuttner's subtitle. He means Obama will permanently change America, as did Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and Ronald Reagan).

But Kuttner cannot be forgiven for mischaracterizing the term "progressive." That term defined the difference between Obama (a progressive) and Hillary Clinton (a liberal) during the 2008 primary, so it is core to the election. Kuttner does identify Obama as a progressive, but also identifies as progressives LBJ, Hillary, John Edwards, and others. Kuttner writes in chapter one, "Progressives who backed Obama rather than John Edwards or Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination gave Obama a pass on some of the issues." (pp. 7-8). That statement is politically inaccurate twice. Where I come from, no progressives backed John Edwards nor Hillary Clinton. I know many, many progressives --they all backed Obama, or Dennis Kucinich, or maybe Mike Gravel. And I know many, many liberals--they all backed John Edwards or Hillary Clinton. It was a clean split, where I come from--and that's also where Kuttner comes from, since we both live in the Boston area. Kuttner must be well-aware of that split, but he misleads his readers by conflating the two political philosophies.

The second inaccuracy in that same statement is that progressives gave Obama a pass on some issues. Kuttner thinks like a liberal, and that statement only makes sense from a liberal perspective, where the focus is on economic issues (labor rights, appropriate taxation, protecting Social Security). Progressives instead focus on social issues (gay rights, protesting and ending the Iraq war, civil rights). Progressives backed Obama because he matched their views and their focus on social issues; liberals backed Hillary and Edwards on the same grounds for economic issues. Progressives would not give a pass to Hillary or Edwards for their pro-Iraq war votes because that's a core part of the progressive agenda.

That distinction between economic issues and social issues is the focal distinction of this website--see our "VoteMatch Quiz" for details. That same distinction differentiated Obama from Hillary, and differentiates the two factions of the Democratic Party, the progressives vs. the liberals. And that same distinction applies to the Republican Party too--its current three factions differ in their social vs. economic focus:

• Christian conservatives focus on social issues (on the opposite side from progressives)
• Tea Party conservatives focus on economic issues (on the opposite side from liberals)
• Libertarians focus on both issues at once (on the opposite side from populists, but these groups aren't relevant to this discussion).

Kuttner's truly unforgivable partisanship comes from mischaracterizing the 2006 Senate election. This statement goes beyond partisan punditry into the realm of factual misrepresentation: "All six of the Democrats who took back Republican senate seats in 2006 ran as resolute progressives." (p. 112) Huh?!? Let's take a look at the six Democrats Kuttner refers to:

• Sherrod Brown (D, OH) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D, RI) are indeed resolute progressives.
• Claire McCaskill (D, MO) is best described as a moderate, not a "resolute progressive," but the other three should not even be described as ANY kind of progressive:
• Jim Webb (D, VA) is pro-gun;
• Jon Tester (D, MT) is pro-gun and pro-Drug War;
• Bob Casey (D, PA) is pro-gun; pro-life; pro-death penalty; pro-Patriot Act; and more!

It's ok that Kuttner is a liberal. But he pretends to be a progressive. And he adds confusion to the debate between progressives and liberals, the ongoing central debate of the Democratic Party. Readers need to be careful in this book to interpret Kuttner's use of the term "progressive" because he often means "liberal." His other analysis might be interesting; but his opinions on progressivism are just factually erroneous.

-- Jesse Gordon, OnTheIssues editor-in-chief, January 2011

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Budget & Economy     Barack Obama: Regulate institutions for what they do, not what they are.     Barack Obama: Deficit spending for $50B emergency economic plan.     Barney Frank: 2007: New generation of financial regulation required.     Ronald Reagan: Deficits don't matter as long as they're used for tax cuts.     Ross Perot: OpEd: made deficit reduction a proxy for public virtue.

Civil Rights     Barack Obama: OpEd: Not the seed of civil rights, but the flower.

Crime     Barack Obama: 1997: Accomplished bipartisan criminal justice reform.

Education     Barack Obama: Refundable $4000 tax credit for community college tuition.

Energy & Oil     Al Gore: We borrow from China to buy Gulf oil; both should change.     Barack Obama: One million 150-mpg plug-in hybrids on road by 2014.     Ed Rendell: Renewable energy like Manhattan Project and Apollo launch.     Jimmy Carter: Attempted to inspire conservation by personal example.

Environment     Al Gore: 2000: Avoided passion by avoiding talking about environment.     Barack Obama: $150B over next 10 years for green energy sector.

Free Trade     Barack Obama: China trade deal does too little on fairness & compliance.     Barack Obama: Trade is here to stay; we have to compete.     John Kerry: 2004: "Benedict Arnold CEOs" profit from outsourcing.

Government Reform     Bill Clinton: OpEd: Triangulation fails to defend party principles.     Bill Clinton: 1996: The era of big government is over.     Bill Clinton: 1993: Motor Voter law to increase electoral participation.     Deval Patrick: 2007: Deny myth that government only serves the powerful.     Hank Paulson: Oversaw federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.     Jimmy Carter: 1978: Government cannot mandate goodness.     Ronald Reagan: 1981: Government is not the solution; it is the problem.

Health Care     Barack Obama: 2003 Rx Drug Bill combined worst of public & private sectors.     Barack Obama: OpEd: Incremental plan builds on patchwork system.     Bill Ritter: 2007 Colorado Promise: end the crisis of the uninsured.     George W. Bush: Tax credits to address crisis of health insurance.     John McCain: Tax credits to address crisis of health insurance.

Homeland Security     Barack Obama: We should have focused on loose nukes & Al Qaeda after 9/11.     George W. Bush: OpEd: color-coded terrorism alerts play on fear.     Russell Feingold: Leader against Bush's use of extra-constitutional doctrines.

Principles & Values     Barack Obama: Only presidential nominee to never have faced tough GOP race.     Barack Obama: OpEd: A resolute progressive AND sick of partisan bickering.     Barack Obama: Speaks about racial anxiety from personal experience.     Barack Obama: Traditional conservatives value temperance & restraint.     Barack Obama: 50-state strategy: focus on states ignored by Hillary & GOP.     Bill Clinton: OpEd: Triangulation worked but set up defeat in 2000.     George W. Bush: OpEd: coherent set of easily-remembered principles.     Howard Dean: 50-state strategy: keep eye on down-ballot races.     Jimmy Carter: OpEd: Ran when voters were fed up, and welcomed an outsider.     Jimmy Carter: 1979 "Malaise" speech: Crisis of confidence threatens nation.     John Kerry: OpEd: Dem 527s funded Kerry well; but GOP 527s destroyed him.     Lyndon Johnson: OpEd: Civil rights alliance made transformational presidency.     Ronald Reagan: OpEd: Transformational president on non-government solutions.

Social Security     Barack Obama: 2007: Raise income cap to avoid future shortfall.

Tax Reform     Barack Obama: Trickle-down economics has failed.     George W. Bush: OpEd: Bush tax cuts led to decreased investment & savings.     Sherrod Brown: 2006: Did you get any of the Bush tax cuts?

War & Peace     Barack Obama: 2002: I don't oppose all war; I am opposed to dumb war.     George W. Bush: OpEd: Knowing misrepresentations plus self-deception.

Welfare & Poverty     Bill Clinton: OpEd: Welfare measured by rolls, not by situation of poor.     Bill Clinton: 1992: People who work hard & play by rules shouldn't be poor.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Al Gore Barack Obama Barney Frank Bill Clinton Bill Ritter Deval Patrick Ed Rendell George W. Bush Hank Paulson Howard Dean Jimmy Carter John Kerry John McCain Lyndon Johnson Ronald Reagan Ross Perot Russell Feingold Sherrod Brown

The above quotations are from Obama's Challenge:
America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency, by Robert Kuttner.

Autobiographies for 2012 GOP primary candidates: No Apology, by Gov. Mitt Romney, Mar 2, 2010 Real Change, by Speaker Newt Gingrich, Dec 18, 2007 Biographies: CEO of SELF, by Herman Cain, 2001 Joe Biden: A Life of Trial and Redemption, by Jules Witcover, 2010 Rick Santorum: A Senator Speaks Out on Life, Freedom, and Responsibility, 2005 Michele Bachmann: Why She Will Win, by Ron Paul Jones, 2011 A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney, by Hugh Hewitt Mitt Romney: The Man, His Values and His Vision, by Lisa Ray Turner and Kimberly Field Deliver Us from Evil, by Sean Hannity

Policy books: Confidence Men, by Ron Suskind, 2011 Core of Conviction, by Rep. Michele Bachmann, 2011 It Takes a Family, by Sen. Rick Santorum, 2005 On My Honor, by Gov. Rick Perry, 2008 End The Fed, by Rep. Ron Paul, Sep 16, 2009 Gold, Peace, and Prosperity: The Birth of a New Currency, by Ron Paul, 2007 My Journey to the White House, by Herman Cain, 2011

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