I would say Obama is a pragmatic progressive. If you don't see him reaching for more, it's because he knows there's no way in hell he's gonna get it yet. So he reaches for less, things he thinks he can get. And then once he gets them, looks for ways to make the next step. He plays a very long chess game. We're criticizing him for sacrificing a bunch of pieces half way through. I'm still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see what the end game looks like.
And that was all with a Republican opposition that was not nearly so obstructionist, experienced, insane or entrenched as the one Obama faces today. In Clinton's day, Fox News had not yet become the bastion of right wing propaganda that it is today, there were some campaign finance laws in place, Republicans had not yet perfected their use of the filibuster to completely shutdown the government and there was no Tea Party.