Even before the right-wing Republican corpses have yet to be carted away from the battlefield, the MSM is already constructing the narrative to hamper a progressive agenda by the Obama administration (don't you love the sound of that). As Sam Tanenhaus, of the New York Times, notes glibly in his election post-mortem, "It may well be that some of Mr. Obama’s positions are to the left of the nation’s at large..." The evolving narrative will have Obama being "pressured" by the left-wing elements of the party against the "responsible," e.g., "centrist," elements of the party. Any progressive policies will be seen as "concessions to the left," and appointments of Republican or right-leaning Democrats will be hailed as responsible leaderhsip.
We would do well to study the first year of the Clinton administration. Clinton was immediately savaged by conservative members of his own party when he proposed the appointment of Lani Guinier, the abolition of the anti-homosexual policies in the military and comprehensive health care reform, amongst other progressive policies. In each instance, Clinton backed down and returned to his more Centrist instincts. By the midterm elections, the Democratic base was so dispirited that the Republicans were able to take control of Congress and any chance real progressive change was lost. Clinton went on to lead a competent but very moderate administration, with many concessions to the Republican Congress.
Things have changed since 1992 but the media has only moved further to the right. The "responsible" punditocracy now includes many former Clintonites who have become ensconced in the DC MSM. The basic intent is to corner Obama so that he will feel constrained to act "responsibly" in general policies in order to save the policies that he does not want to sacrifice. This was done constantly in the Clinton administration where he ditched policies he wanted in order to save policies that he needed.
One very critical distinction now, is the growth and influence of the netroots. Conservative Democratic Senator, Sam Nunn was able to steal the narrative on gays in the military because the media was all too willing to enable him. Unlike today, the netroots could not push back in 1992 and 1993. This may put the netroots in the awkward position of antagonism to Obama's advisors. Not to take the bloom off the rose, but our work has just begun.