Progressives seem to be running for cover one year after the inauguration of Barack Obama. “I’m pretty close to giving up on Mr. Obama, who seems determined to confirm every doubt I and others ever had about whether he was ready to fight for what his supporters believed in,” wrote Paul Krugman in The New York Times.  Mr. Krugman is clearly not alone. 

However, after a difficult year I’m not ready to give up on this president. As I’ve said before, “This president inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, two wars and a global climate change crisis. On all fronts, the president has made progress (though progressives often wish for quicker action and are frustrated at the slow legislative pace and the obstacles set in place by the GOP, the same folks who created much of the mess the president is trying to clean up).” 

That isn’t to say that I’m not frustrated. The insistence on the part of the president to be “bi-partisan” despite every indication that the GOP had no interest in working on an bi-partisan agenda helped set the stage for the near disaster that health care reform has become. 

Democrats in Congress, including the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader, have shown that even with strong majorities they cannot govern. What we are witnessing is a lack of leadership at all levels of politics and the American people are right to be frustrated. 

Some are telling the president now is the time to run to the political center (ala Bill Clinton circa 1994) but I supported Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton because I wanted a return to principled politics. A move to Clinton-style politics would, of course, mean an end to the promise of the Obama presidency. We expect better from him. 

President Obama has on many issues moved the debate in the right direction over the last year. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (that the President passed with little Republican support) included broad investments to alleviate the poverty made worse by the economic crisis. 

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities notes that millions of more Americans would have fallen into poverty if it wasn’t for the president’s stimulus package. 

At the same time, I wish the stimulus package had been stronger (in the ways that Mr. Krugman articulated at the time). 

We have also begun the withdrawal from Iraq. And while I have concerns about the mission in Afghanistan, I also agree that the U.S. has long-term humanitarian obligations to that nation and that a strong military presence is needed to keep the Taliban from retaining power. 

When I offered my personal endorsement of Barack Obama back in 2007 – when he was 30+ points down in the polls – it wasn’t ever with an understanding that I would agree with his every decision.  

I endorsed Barack Obama because I believed in his character and in the policies that he was advocating. Has he lived up to every promise? No. Do I want to him to be more aggressive in defining and defending a progressive agenda for the nation? Yes.

For example, I want very much for the president to re-affirm the commitment he made during the 2008 election to reduce poverty in America by 50% in ten years.  

I want him to take a stronger role in defending the right of women to make their own reproductive health care decisions and to be more active in defending the civil rights of gay and lesbian Americans.  Rhetoric is not enough.

But I still believe in his character and ability to govern effectively. Barack Obama is an extraordinary individual who deeply loves his country and who understands the difficulties faced by the American people. 

During the course of the next three years I will continue to work with other faith leaders across the country to push this administration when it needs to be pushed and I'm not afraid to criticize the president when warranted. It is certainly the job of the church to speak truth to power. 

I’ll also not be afraid to stand with the president when he is right regardless of what the polls say. 

In the end, this isn’t about Barack Obama. It is about the American people. The president has to work with Congress, the courts, and an array of well funded special interest groups trying to overcome his plans to expand health care, to fight global warming and to overhaul the banking system. 

The president needs our help as much as we need his.