I use the word "progressive" as shorthand to describe the mix of liberal, radical, revolutionary, and reform ideologies that comprise my own personal political views.

And as a progressive, I never ranked the DA's office high on my priority list of political offices where change could be enacted.

I mean how change-oriented and radical thinking could a prosecutor’s office be?

Well, in 2005, Kia Gregory interviewed Seth Williams for a Philly Weekly cover story. And according to Seth, a District Attorney could actually be pretty awesome. If they were willing to think about sentencing in different terms than enacting the swiftest and harshest “justice” possible.

So I got hooked, as I think did many other voters, on Seth’s vision. Not to mention that he is an incredibly likeable guy.

But here’s the thing: When it comes to supporting candidates, at least in 2005, I had only ever supported losers. So as much as I worked hard for Seth then, it seemed inevitable that he would lose.

And that’s what makes reading the papers in the past few days incredibly surreal.

Because even though he did lose in ’05, Seth won big in ’09. And he is now actually the District Attorney of the city of Philadelphia. And real change is possible.

And the best, and most scary part, is that all of the rhetorical descriptions of Seth are done. Now that he is actually in office, he has to deliver.

Looking back at his first week in office I am happy to report that the change-making seems to be right on track.

Seth named a new head of the charging unit. He got a working group started on community-based prosecution. He picked his top staff (all of whom are experienced and competent). And, my favorite, he went to 55th and Pine to hear preliminary hearings himself.

This is classic Seth. Not only does he send a message to his staff that no one’s title should be taken so seriously as to detract from the mission of the DA’s office, but knowing Seth, he also probably soaked in enough details from that morning of hearings to ground himself in the reality of the community he is serving. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of this.

The biggest challenge for Seth and for his progressive supporters in the next four years will be handling the reactionary moments.

Making our city’s chief prosecutor a political animal has always seemed like a dubious choice to me charter-wise. When a horrible murder (especially against a police office) or assault (especially against a child) or some other moment comes up, rest assured the pitch forks and torches will come out. And the DA’s office may be called to lead the charge. After all, when people are angry and upset and scared, revenge and bloodlust sometime trump logic and reason.

However, Seth proved over and over again in the campaign that a vision for making sweeping and important change is what motivates him. As long as he sticks to his vision, and continues to display the openness to new ideas and the empathy to many different kinds of people he has in the past four years, I think we can trust him to deliver on all of his promises and more.