Why We Must Set The Bar High For Barack Obama

The speech below was given the same week as the inaugural. It's far more memorable-- and far more important for progressives and activists. Obama the candidate was a potent symbol of equality-- as was Hillary Clinton-- but anyone who ever bought into the Republican line that he was the "most progressive" Democrat in the Senate was kidding themselves. Obama's voting record was always down at the bottom of the heap with Lieberman, Nelson, Lincoln, Landrieu, Pryor, Baucus... As we mentioned dozens of times during the primary, he was never as progressive as the more moderate, less conservative junior senator from New York. "Hope" and "Change" were goals we had to work actively for; they still are.