Huffington Magazine Issue 21 | Page 55

RON SACHS-POOL/GETTY IMAGES FOUR YEARS AGO, ON THE DAY BARACK OBAMA WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, THE WORLD SEEMED FULL OF POSSIBILITIES — PARTICULARLY FOR THE PEOPLE WHO SPEND THEIR CAREERS TRYING TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. Advocates for economic fairness, gay rights, civil liberties, the environment and campaign finance reform were filled with hope for momentous change. They weren’t just celebrating  the end of eight years of deregulatory disaster, constant war, growing inequality and state-sanctioned torture under the Bush administration. They were responding to Obama’s explicit commitment to such key progressive goals as closing Guantanamo, repealing the Bush tax cuts for the rich, capping carbon emissions and introducing comprehensive immigration reform. “Like much of the progressive world, I was incredibly excited,” said Deepak Bhargava, who runs the Center for Community Change, a group founded 44 years ago to honor Robert F. Kennedy and devoted to empowering poor and minority communities. He hosted a party at his house on election day. “There were calls and hugs and cheers and tears,” he recalled. Gay activists like Americablog editor John Aravosis were elated. “With Democrats controlling the presidency and the Congress? And gay-friendly at the same