“If he appoints Larry Summers it is over,” he remarked. “There is no one that can make the case that President Obama is actually a progressive at heart. ‘Oh, wait for the second term. In the second term he’ll be really progressive.’ Then why would he take the guy most responsible for deregulation, for agreeing with the Republicans, for giving the banks everything they wanted and give him the most powerful position? Because he’s not a progressive.

“If Larry Summers is appointed, it’s the final nail in that coffin. No one in their right mind could call President Obama a progressive.”