Founder of a New Republic?

In Obama and the Dawn of the Fourth Republic, author Michael Lind posits that America is due for a new republic, which he sees as occurring in approximately 72-year cycles (biorhythms, anyone?). While the author's synopsis of history seems sound, the evidence for a sea-change in politics and the underlying culture that drives it appears spotty at best and reeks of making the data fit a thesis, in this case, that Obama is the one. But let's get to the money quote:

And even if I am right that the new era began four years ago, historians are likely to identify the first president of the Fourth Republic of the United States as Barack Obama, not George W. Bush. Obama may join Washington, Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt on the short list of American presidents who, thanks both to their own leadership and the fortuitous timing of their elections, presided over the refounding of the United States.

Leadership? What leadership?

And isn't it a bit premature to be even considering to link him with Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt?

To beat it all, the author then finishes his article with a statement that emphasizes just how much impartiality the author might have used in reviewing the data.

Yes, he can.

Uggh.