President-elect Barack Obama prevailed in the Democratic primaries thanks in part to two critical areas where he established himself as the superior candidate. He also showed notable tact in sidestepping direct attacks in debates and in the course of the campaign more generally. A few more unsolicited words of advice for Sen. Obama:
Use your rhetorical gift to make progress on thorny, pressing issues. President Obama's grappling with an economic mess is undertaken with the big, structural problems of entitlement programs in the near background. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid serve millions of Americans, in many cases to meet basic housing and medical care needs. As the U.S. population has aged, the budget for these programs has risen to $1.2 trillion per year, or 41% of total Federal expenditures. Entitlement spending will rise to 60% by 2030 if unaddressed, leaving younger Americans strapped to fund K12 education or develop energy independence in earnest. President Obama's political fortunes will face a stern challenge if he moves to create substantive reform for entitlement programs, and yet he must do so. Effective communication with the American people will be essential in achieving change and continued viability for the programs.
You used innovation to win the campaign; infuse it in policy. The Obama campaign exhibited an unprecedented willingness to use new technology to supercharge tried-and-true organizing methods, illustrating two things – Obama's fluency in the digital age, and his use of it to gain advantage among the election-year competition. It's not about Obama's Blackberry. The point is that supporting the private sector's technological innovation and adaptation with deliberate, consistent policy could go a long way to harness innovation. The economic stimulus discussion is an immediate example: As many (including me) have discussed, debate about an anticipated stimulus has been all about physical infrastructure, nibbling at technology in areas such as solar power. But supporting innovation is only physical in part. Economist Joseph Stiglitz noted in a recent interview, "If we spend $700 billion on new technology and innovation, we'd have a stronger, new, real economy. Up to now, the discussion has focused on the sectors that have been mismanaged rather than the sectors that are creating our future." Obama is in a better position to evaluate the prospects of technological change than any recent predecessor – I hope he takes advantage for all of our sake.
End the Presidential ad-hockery. Arguably, President Bush's agenda has been dictated by circumstance, and he has failed to describe a broader aspiration or common purpose, whether to develop genuine energy independence or anticipate other future trends. By reinventing himself as an Education President, a War President, a Peace President, a Conservation President, Bush has left citizens, our markets, and our allies in a quandary about the guiding principles of our executive since 2001. Instability of this nature isn't good for the relationships a president must establish, whether here or abroad. What's become of the recommendations of the 9-11 Commission? How is the No Child Left Behind legislation working or not working? Will we respond to the plight of natural disaster victims more effectively next time than we did to our people in New Orleans? We don't know – because each of these events took place in a specific time, never to be meaningfully revisited or connected by the current administration. It is critical that the incoming Obama administration communicate a framework for their policy and politics in the coming four years; a continued ad hoc approach to decision making will sow seeds of failure.