Not an American, but it seems to me that Obama will pursue exactly the same policies than those Republican jackasses, but unlike them, he will "sugar-coat" them with beautiful and progressive speeches LOL
It's very fair to say that the American Left is a long way right of the European Left, so that even when a Democrat gets in elected in the States, the US remains right wing.
However, that does not mean that the two parties are the same. The Dems are right wing, the Republians even further to the right. Obama will protect the moneyed interests just like a Republican would, I think anyone elected in the US to become corrupted like that to actually get elected, but I can't see Obama invading Iran, like the Republicans are dead keen to do. Obama did bring home the troops from Iraq, over massive Republican revulsion. I can't see Republicans abolishing DATD, but Obama did. I can't see Republicans doing any financial reform other than removing more regulation, but Obama set up the Consumer Protection Agency, and got Dod-Frank through. He also passed imperfect health reform, which Republicans would not have done. He also managed to pass the (too small) stimulus, that probably saved America from a depression, and just left a recession.
American and the world would have been very different if there had been a Republican in office for the last three years, and the same will be true for the four years starting in January 2013, depending on who the American people choose to elect. Elections have consequences, and all politicians may have similarities, but they are not all the same.
B.