Reply #45: He could, but he won't. It's just not who he is.

[QC]

Why, in the face of so much evidence to the contrary, are people still trying to pretend that Obama's really a progressive who is being forced against his will to act like a corporate shill?

It's like a child trying to convince himself that Santa Claus is real, despite the fact that he just saw fifteen identical Santas out at the mall and the old man never answers his letters.

Obama's worldview is essentially that of a moderate conservative. He believes that the system generally works and that the people running the system got there through merit. This has long been obvious to those who paid attention to what Obama actually said and did, rather than just get caught up in the rhetorical style that he appropriated from the Civil Rights and Farm Workers movements.