One way to think about this issue is as a battle between economics and identity.
Identity is who we are; economics is what we have. It is extremely rare for people to kill for money, and even when they do it is because they want to money to support a lifestyle, that is to maintain their identity. But people kill for their identity all the time, whether it is because they are a jihadi or a Marine. (Obviously, not all killing is wrong.)
Identity is the most powerful organizing force on the planet. All major human organizations, be they religious, commercial, political, military, or other, rely on the estabilshment and maintenance of identity for their success. The corporate world has figured this out, which is why “corporate culture” has become such an important tool for leading organizations.
What has empowered the President is that he has been able to weave all of the various strands of leftists into a single movement, and mobilized them to elect him to office. This is a remarkable achievement, given the widely disparate philosophies that underlie these strands.
But because he has relied on charisma, his movement will be difficult to sustain. He must find a way to routinize that charisma. Max Weber, the father of sociology, once described the cycle of the charisma:
1. Opportunity or crisis leads to the emergence of the charismatic leader
2. The charismatic leader is granted authority
3. Authority provides the means for change
4. Change leads to success
5. Success leads to growth
6. Growth leads to scale
7. Scale leads to routinization
8. Routinization leads to tradition
9. Tradition leads to stasis
10. Stasis leads to a crisis or opportunity
At any point in the cycle, there can be a failure. For instance, success doesn’t necessarily lead to growth, and change doesn’t necessarily lead to success. However, if the movement makes it far enough, it will have to routinize. And charisma is a famously difficult characteristic to routinize.
(As an aside, this is one reason why political dynasties emerge; followers bestow the charisma of the founder on his children, a process Weber referred to as lineage succession.)
The internet provides an unprecedent means of transforming the President’s charisma into an identity. This is, at its core, what MoveOn.org and Daily Kos are about: creating an identity – the progressive – that can motivate his followers to act on his agenda of change. This is a powerful movement and taps into the feelings and emotions of its (generally) young audience.
Where the President will have a problem, however, will be on Phase 4: change that creates success. This is where he will run up against the economic constraint; it is almost certain that his dramatic expansion of the size, scope, and cost of government will fail. We know this because history has demonstrated this to us repeatedly.
The question is: when this happens, will we regain the unified identity we once shared, an identity that is rooted in small “l” liberalism (limited government, private property, individual freedom, entrepreneurship, rule of law, etc.) and the US Constitution? Will we once again become “American”?
I believe the American identity still has legs. [Insert Carrie Prejean joke of your choice here.] I also believe that to restore this identity will be the work of our generation. It begins with education, but education is not enough; it will require a change in behavior, in habits, in culture. And this change will only occur when our security is threatened, whether that threat is economic or military.
As Weber showed, however, an opportunity or crisis will always emerge. And when it does, we should not let it go to waste. 
L3
