HH4PREZ BLOG: What Happens When The Kool Aid Wears Off

By Biko Baker

In ten years historians will look back on this week and will declare that it is was a ground breaking week for Barack Obama. And nope, it won't be because the junior senator from Illinois picked a running mate or because "Young Berry" delivered another one of his trademark speeches. This week was important because for the first time it became clear to many of his die hard supporters that Barack Obama might not be all that progressive.

From the FISA Bill to his support of Bush's faith based initiatives to his willingness to throw Wesley Clark under the bus, this week Obama has proven that we won't be right (no pun intended) on every issue. In fact after this week it's becoming clear that he is going to be wrong a lot more than we would like him to be.

Of course the truth is that we really don't need Obama to be on the right side of the issue all of the time. Nor should we really expect him to be. After all skeptics in the blogosphere have been hacking away at him for months, claiming that his voting record has been spotty at best.

At the end of the day, as young progressives we really just need Obama to be accountable to us most of the time and the rest of time it's going to be up to us to push back and fight with the him. After all it's going to be our vote that gets him in the office. We shouldn't be afraid to roll up or sleeves.

But I have to be honest, I am starting to wonder if our generation has "the sand" to consistently stand up to Obama when strays from the progressive path. After all, so many of my friends, family and former coworkers have drunk so much of the Obama Kool Aid that I some times wonder if they can still see straight. I mean, it's all right to love your candidate but young activists shouldn't be naïve. Obama is going to continue to be tempted to move toward the center, especially if he wins on November 4th. We just can't follow him there.