A friend called me the other day. “Bill,” he said, “How will all of this enthusiasm for Obama translate into anything long-term?” He went on to comment on the potential this upsurge of support for Senator Obama COULD have for a progressive movement. The discussion led me to draw some conclusions I would like to share with you.

First, and as I have noted in previous columns, we must all be clear as to what politics Senator Obama holds and what politics he does not hold. He is not the political reincarnation of The Rev. Jesse Jackson (and his ’84 and ’88 campaigns) and he is not the leader of the progressive movement. In reviewing his platform and his speeches, I do not see much difference from the platform of Senator Clinton, a fact which I think helps to explain some of the intensity between the two of them. Thus, we should not try to make of him something he is not. Such an approach will lead to long-term problems.

Second, and also as I have noted, the waves of enthusiasm for Obama derive from a variety of different sources, some completely idealistic and others grounded in an absolute hatred of what we have experienced in the Bush years (and to some extent during the earlier Clinton years), and, therefore, a demand for something very different.

Yet what complicates all of this is the unevenness in Obama’s platform. What we confront is potential for change in a progressive direction rather than leadership in a progressive direction. In other words, Obama opens up possibilities, but as can be repeatedly demonstrated, there are inconsistencies in his views and approach, as well as times when he is just wrong. The unilateral attack carried out by the US against Al Qaeda in Pakistan by the Bush administration just recently was perfectly consistent with what has been advocated by Obama. The consequences of such actions are simply incalculable.

So, what does this mean?

I keep coming back to Obama’s own words when he speculated as to what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would do vis-à-vis the presidential elections if he were still alive: pressure all the candidates! Pressure, however, needs organization and it needs courage. It means that we have to point out to the campaign and the candidate precisely when we think he is wrong, and in doing so we should point him in the direction that needs to be taken.

But when the campaign is over, whether it is at the Democrat Convention or in November, if there is nothing to build upon, the enthusiasm will evaporate as it has on so many other occasions after energizing electoral campaigns. I would suggest two steps:

There are tremendous dangers AND opportunities in this election season. Casting caution to the wind and uncritically supporting any candidate is a recipe for disaster. We must expect that there will be immense tugs to the Right on any elected official. If progressives are not prepared to push back and keep Obama’s feet to the fire then every reservation that many of us have about his candidacy will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is Executive Editor of The Black Commentator. He is also a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies and the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum. Click here to contact Mr. Fletcher.