Going Long

John Judis goes long -- and brilliantly -- on the subject of Barack Obama, putting him not just in the recent tradition of reformist political figures, but a much older "long cycle" American tradition of a search for Adam-like figures who promise to start things over anew. Judis captures the promise of Obama, but also a lot of his peril.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2008/02/going-long/48705/