Thomas Frank, in his recent book "Listen Liberal", disputes the idea that Obama was so constrained by the Republicans that he couldn't do more. He didn't have to put Wall Street execs in charge of his economic program. He also didn't have to leave troops in Afghanistan and kill people in a number of countries with drones. Or make war on Libya, as urged by Clinton. I don't think Obama really wanted to do more. Like the Clintons, Obama is an elite limousine liberal, comfortable with the way things are. After all, it worked for him.