What happened to the Barack Obama I voted for?

There’s an excellent article in today’s Salon that analyzes why Obama’s words and actions have been at odds with each other since he took office in 2008. Many liberals were excited and optimistic during Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, and themes like “change” and “transparency” seduced many lefties into thinking that Obama would herald in a new age of progressivism. Of course, that didn’t happen.

Author David Bromwich does a good job of describing a man who has a long history of confusing rhetoric with action, personae with policy. Contrary to what many of his supporters would claim, Obama has risen to the highest office in the country not based on strong ideals or leadership skills, but on his ability to articulate appealing policies that he later would not or could not bring into reality.