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I think the elusive "substance" behind Obama's call for a new politics derives largely from his interest in consensus building which, in turn, stems from his work as a community organizer. Often, New-Dem/Clinton-style "triangulation" and consensus building will end up in roughly equivalent places, but Obama is as interested in process as results.
The sometimes less-than-specific policy proposals are a result of this process-oriented idealism. The policy grows out of the process. Obama used to say fairly often in town hall meetings that there had been no shortage of solid plans to address our various woes, including health care. What had been lacking was "political will" and consensus. If there aren't enough people who feel like they've been part of the process, part of the conversation that leads to policy, those people won't be as willing to resist when entrenched powers resist the new policies.
This is related to the spat between Clinton and Obama during which Clinton said that a candidate for president should avoid saying certain things, even if they are true. She was referring, if I remember correctly, to Obama's (admittedly imperfectly stated) suggestion that we should consider going into Northern Pakistan if that's where we think/know bin Laden is. She said "think it but keep it to yourself." He said "the people deserve to be part of the conversation." There have been similar exchanges throughout the campaign (including the debate about whether the President should engage in one-on-one negotiations with leaders of hostile or "rogue" nations.)
The Bush administration has made a spectacle of secrecy, allowing classified documents and institutionalized paranoia to stand as a signifier of security... and proven to be astonishingly incompetent when the smoke is cleared away. a candidate seeking a more candid, transparent, consensus building, process-oriented approach to policy might be a welcome change indeed.
