First 100 days

Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch of reason give their take.

I would be just a bit less negative. We have gotten some relaxation on both the drug war and the porn wars and a good large change on stem cell research. We may yet get some change on torture and foreign policy.

Obama also looks better if you make the standard what McCain / Palin would have done rather than an absolute (but also unrealistic) standard of goodness. We would not have any of the positives I just listed had McCain won and we might well have some additional foreign policy negatives. I also don't think that McCain would have spent any less money on bailouts, though the unions would likely have gotten a less good deal at GM and Chrysler. McCain is not really interested in domestic policy, cares more about appearances than reality as illustrated by his obsession with campaign finance reform, and is in no way a economic liberal. So it was not going to look good no matter what.

But, yeah, the main point is correct. There is nothing very new or different here. To borrow a phrase "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" at least in substance if not in style. It is a shame too, because he could be using all this popularity to push through some good but unpopular legislation.