E.J. Dionne is suggesting in his latest column, that instead of governing from the middle Obama should declare his election and ideological victory and govern “boldly:”

Obama’s situation closely resembles Reagan’s. Like our 40th president, Obama has been authorized to move in a new direction. If Reagan had the voters’ permission to move away from strategies associated with liberalism, Obama has sanction to move away from conservative policies. Reagan was judged by the results of his choices, and Obama will be, too.

Yet Reagan offers another lesson: His first moves were bold, and Obama should not fear following his example. The president-elect is hearing that his greatest mistake would be something called “overreach.” Democrats in Congress, it’s implied, are hungry to impose wacky left-wing schemes that Obama must resist.

In fact, timidity is a far greater danger than overreaching, simply because it’s quite easy to be cautious. And anyone who thinks House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her followers are ultra-leftist ideologues has been asleep for the past two years. As Pelosi noted in an interview in her office this week, her moves have been shaped by a Democratic House caucus that includes both staunch liberals and resolute moderates. She knows where election victories come from.

I think the parallels between Reagan’s first term and Obama’s are justified at some level. But they are still very different. Reagan was elected on a very clear ideological message. “Government is the problem.” Obama’s message has been much more convoluted. Hope, Change, ambiguous assertions about people believing in government again. The reality is that most of those who voted for Obama couldn’t tell you what his ideology is. This will make it much harder for Obama to govern from the left. Which is why we’ll likely see a much more timid Obama than Dionne would like.