It's not like Bush left a legacy of active democratization which Obama is supposedly abandoning. Rather than repeat the old buzzwords to please those invested in the democracy promotion industry, Obama did something more important by addressing head on some of the most vexing issues which have plagued American thinking about democracy in the region. This, to my eye, was the key statement: America respects
the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world,
even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful
governments - provided they govern with respect for all their people.
As I noted yesterday, that suggests clearly that the U.S. will accept the democratic participation of peaceful Islamist movements as long as they abstain from violence --and respect their electoral victories provided that they commit to the democratic process. He made a passionate defense of that latter point, that victors must demonstrate tolerance and respect for minorities and that elections alone are not enough. But he clearly did not prejudge participants in the electoral game -- the old canard about Islamists wanting "one man, one vote, one time" thankfully, and significantly, did not appear.