Strike While the Iron Is Hot

John Podesta, executive director of the Center for American Progress and the co-chair of President-elect Obama’s transition team, has a formula for strong presidencies (strong as in having the broad-based support needed to achieve the goals set during the campaign, not as in running rough-shod over public opinion and the law).

Before it was clear that Barack Obama would be elected, John Podesta, the current co-chair of the White House transition team, laid out an agenda for the next president that was aggressive, assertive but politically practical. In excerpts of a book being released in January, “Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint For The 44th President,” Podesta describes the need for a chief executive that scores quick and decisive victories while exhibiting respect for Congress and some independence from the early demands of political interest groups. Writing in sometimes ominous terms about a future Democratic government, he emphasizes that the president-elect must move aggressively on his agenda “regardless of the environment,” or face a revolt from voters. “[I]f the president and his administration do not take the time upfront to develop a clear and coherent blueprint for action — and find ways to move this agenda regardless of the environment — then they will quickly find the windows of opportunity shutting before their eyes and will face increased public frustration and disappointment,” he writes in the book’s introduction.

Marc Ambinder writes that “Democrats who survived the transition from George H.W. Bush to William Jefferson Clinton are a bit in awe these days of what Barack Obama is doing and how he is doing it.”

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