E.J. Dionne's column today includes this observation: "In many ways, Obama is running the 2008 version of the 1992 Clinton campaign. You have the feeling that if Bill Clinton did not have another candidate in this contest, he'd be advising Obama and cheering him on."
There's one major difference between the two campaigns, however. In 1992 Bill Clinton was at odds with the liberal wing of his party on several issues, including free trade, welfare reform, and the death penalty. To my knowledge, there's not a single issue on which Obama deviates from the progressive policy line. For Obama truly to run as Clinton did, he would have to listen to Mickey Kaus and embrace, say, class-based rather than race-based affirmative action.
