Obama’s Challenge – Book by Robert Kuttner

One of our best progressive thinkers explains how Obama must be a transformative president-or a failed one.Barack Obama approaches the presidency at a critical moment in American history, facing simultaneous crises of war, the environment, health care, but most especially in the economy.

In Obama’s Challenge, Robert Kuttner argues that the nation’s first black president could join the ranks of a small handful of previous presidents who have been truly transformative, succeeding in fundamentally changing our economy, society, and democracy for the better.

Robert Kuttner is cofounder and coeditor of the American Prospect magazine, as well as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the think tank Demos. He was a longtime columnist for Business Week, and continues to write columns in the Boston Globe. He is the author of Obama’s Challenge, The Squandering of America, Everything for Sale, and The End of Laissez-Faire, among other books.

Praise for Obama’s Challenge

“Obama’s Challenge is the fruit of Bob Kuttner’s lifetime of engagé reporting, analysis, and advocacy . . . it is riveting, brilliant, and persuasive. Kuttner, in concise chapters written with great vigor and clarity, shows what the change could look like if Obama is bold enough to go for it and the gods continue to smile on him.”
—Hendrik Hertzberg, from his New Yorker blog

“As Kuttner convincingly argues, a President Barack Obama will have an historic opportunity to radically transform America’s direction—but only if he rejects the tired centrist policies of the past and inspires his fellow citizens to forge new progressive paths. Kuttner systematically lays out the case for why Obama should give full voice to a robust progressive message at a time when the American people are suffering from years of conservative policy. Obama’s Challenge is an enlightening road map for all Americans who hunger for a change in direction and priorities in America, and who hope Obama can be our leading agent of change.”
—Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, founder of DailyKos.com, author of Taking on the System and coauthor of Crashing the Gate

“Bob Kuttner pulls off the all-but-impossible. He hits the high notes with artful precision, lifting expectations and articulating the steps that can make Barack Obama a great president—while setting forth a strong and highly readable call for comprehensive and essential economic change.”
—John Sweeney, AFL-CIO President

“Robert Kuttner has incisively captured the political moment, underscored by the deepening economic crisis. Lucidly and passionately, he lays out the hurdles facing an Obama presidency and challenges him to seize the moment and achieve greatness by redeeming the promise of America.”
—Arianna Huffington, cofounder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post