Obama's speech tomorrow must demonstrate his strong commitment toward advancing a progressive ideology

Your daily reading assignment, if you choose to accept, is to check out this inspirational editorial written by Paul Waldman in the liberal political monthly The American Prospect. I happen to agree with Waldman on his main points: That is, Obama absolutely needs to run a general election campaign against his Republican rival Senator John McCain as an economic populist and a strong supporter of the burgeoning progressive movement.

Waldman puts forward his theory that:

There's something . . . worth hoping for in Obama's speech, something that has been glimpsed only occasionally in his presidential campaign: a full-throated defense not just of his candidacy or of the vague ideas of change and progress but of progressivism as an ideology. And while he's at it, he could offer an attack not just on the actual failures of George W. Bush or the potential failures of John McCain but on the failure that is conservatism.

If Obama wins in November, he will have the opportunity to do for progressives what Ronald Reagan did for conservatives: not just advance their goals in government but provide an ideological touchstone that nourishes their movement for decades. The power Reagan gave to conservatives came in no small part because he was a proud advocate for his ideology. Obama could do the same thing, with as much lasting impact - if he seizes the opportunity.