I am convinced that presidential politics is not the place to challnege popular values, beliefs and myths, but rather to mobilize and appeal to those values that are conducive to the party platform. Repugs were quite good at that, Democrats no to so good. That is why Repugs kept winning elections even though as they were screwing people who voted for them. I think Obama has the charisma to change that and to promote progressive values in public discourse as an alternative to the neo-con orthodoxy. If he accomplishes just that - it will a big thing.
I do not think that any substantial change of the current course in the US is possible, except in response to a truly catastropic event. Slight adjustments, maybe, but not the change of course. It is like the Titanic - it will stay its course until it crashes into an iceberg.
It is so because people will resist any change that they perceive as a loss of their status. Consuming less, living in more densely populated settlement, taking transit instead of driving, paying more taxex for universal health benefits, treating other nations as equals - all that involves the perceived loss of status of entailed in the "Amerikan way of life." Most US-ers think that Amerika as a whole and the Amerikan way life is superior to anything that has ever existed on this planet and everyone envies them that superiority - and that message is confirmed in every policitical speech, every sermon, the media, and even everyday conversations.
Any change that undermines that feeling of superiorty will be met with widely spread popular resistance. US-sers will support sucking every drop of oil from their land and invading every country on earth to such their oil before thay even start thinking of changing cars for buses and trains. They will support military adventure against any country that their perceive as a threat to the US superiority, and only if that adventure fails miserably, they will consider negotiations. They will mortgage their homes and their lives to the point of bankruptcy to pay for private education or private health care before they consider paying a few hundred dollars in taxes to pay for education and health care of "undeserving" poor and the "coloured" minorities.
Social change can happen only if people believe it will increase their status. Eastern Europe is a case in point. "Perestroika" was possible only because of popular perception that capitalism would increase the status of most East Europeans. This was part of their folk mythology - they resented of being put on an equal footing with the "proles" and envied high social status enjoyed, in their view, by Westerners and manifested by the possession of status goods, such as automobiles, individual homes, fashionable clothes etc. E. Europeans embraced social change because they imagined that their status would increase as a result of that change.
In the US, however, any meaningful social change must necessarily involve curbing the run-amok consumerism, sense of superiority, exceptionalism, and individulism, and strive toward more efficient and responsible use of resurces, more power sharing both domestically and internationally, and generally more responsiblity and less stuff and excesses. All that entuils a loss of status and consequently will meet wide spread popular resistance.
Add to it powerful special interest groups that benefit form the status quo and do everyhting they can to keep it. Case in point - Farm Subsidiy Bill - even Bush, who rammed all kinds of crap down this country throat, could not effectivele veto it. The same will meet any other presidential initiative that takes away privileges of special interest groups in this country.
So my expecations of any change in this country are rather low - minor adjustments maybe, but no real changes. So I do not expect any politician (not just Obama) to bring that change about - this simply not possible, unless a major catastrophe takes place. The only thing that I expect from a politician is changing the tone of the public discourse - from the obnoxious neo-con drivel to something more sympathetic my liberal/social-democratic sensibilities. Obama seems to be poised to accomplish that.
Wojtek