You're making the 'Obama is teh genius!' argument - which seems to be popular with parts of the left in the US, but doesn't seem to have a lot of reality backing it up.

What could he have done?

He could have filled his cabinet with real progressives, not people like Rahm and Geithner.

He could have knocked DINO heads together to make it clear that he's the boss man and if DINOs don't support him, he won't support them come re-election time.

He could have maintained contact with the base, rather than alienating real progressives almost immediately.

He could have pressed for progressive judges throughout the judicial system, and progressive appointess throughout the US equivalent of the civil service.

He has always had plenty of options. But he hasn't done these things, because he's not interested in being a real progressive - he's interested in being everything to everyone to the extent that it furthers his career.

He could have taken a stand on torture, instead of confusing justice with PR.

How long a game do you think he's playing? Will you still be saying the same things in 2012 when nothing much has improved, and his prospects of a second term look slim to non-existent?

Here in the UK we've seen all of this before with the NuLab - which was based on throwing some pennies to the peasants, while keeping the bankers happy and fat, and larding it all with spin, lies and persuasive rhetoric to make it look far more populist than it really was.