Barack Obama stands onstage as he is introduced to speak at the Truman Memorial Building in Independence, Mo., Monday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
by James Oliphant
It's been an interesting week for Obama-watchers.
if they have been paying close attention, they can watch with their own eyes the Democratic candidate making a play for the center of the American electorate, the Reagan Democrats, the Hillary supporters, the Security Moms, NASCAR Dads, etc.
Apparently, the Obama camp believes it has its base locked down and now is trying to convince moderates that the Illinois senator is one of them. Obama's patriotism roll-out this week is, of course, a prime example.
But in past seven days alone, Obama has
* Announced he would forego public financing of his campaign after earlier saying he would accept it. The move was viewed by many critics as a cynical, "win now" move from a man who had vowed to clean up the system
* Supported the Supreme Court's ruling that Americans have a constitutional right to own a firearm. (His campaign has said that Obamas' position on the Second Amendment has been consistent, but many gun-rights supporters passionately disagree.)
* Blasted that same court for refusing to allow child rapists to be executed
* Announced he would support legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that permits telecom companies to secure immunity from civil lawsuits with little difficult, after vowing to filibuster such a bill months ago. Then he indicated he might support an amendment stripping out the protection but then vote for the bill if the amendment fails on the Senate floor. (With the FISA vote postponed, it remains unclear what approach Obama will take on the bill.)
* Was quick to distance himself from retired Gen. Wesley Clark's remarks Sunday morning on CBS. Clark suggested that just because McCain had been a Navy pilot and prisoner of war, it didn't necessarily make him qualified to be commander-in-chief. Obama released a statement Monday praising McCain's service to the nation.
* Condemning, in his "patriotism" speech today, MoveOn.org for its "General Betrayus" campaign last year, saying:
All too often our politics still seems trapped in these old, threadbare arguments -- a fact most evident during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, when those who opposed administration policy were tagged by some as unpatriotic, and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal.
The Obama campaign seems determined to to let their man be tagged with the dreaded "L"-word. Time will tell if the strategy works.
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Comments
Disillusioned acolytes, meet your candidate: Faux-bama.
Posted by: Bemused | June 30, 2008 4:35 PM
Yeah, I remember when the media criticized then Governeor George W Bush for moving to the center in 2000. Remember all the companssionate conservative BS the media bought into? How he could reach across the aisle and work with Ted Kennedy for liberal causes, like education reform? Yeah, I remember very harsh media criticism.
Posted by: Paul | June 30, 2008 4:53 PM
No "Change". Smae old political flip flop to please the masses...What happened to the enlightened persona with the meassage of follow me..To where??..As a Democrat I need some concrete values and ideas for implementation that will pull us out of this war and back on positive economical footing...This is what I am hearing from everyone I speak to...Unfortunately both Obama and McCain are both flip flopping and people are starting to say there is no one they want to vote for...The Clark comment on McCain didn't help matters..At least not here in Texas.....
Posted by: kaye c. | June 30, 2008 4:56 PM
The center was the only direction he could go. He was as far left as a senator could be.
Posted by: Jason | June 30, 2008 5:12 PM
Um, in case you guys haven't been paying attention, he's said since day one he is not a liberal. If you've also read his writings for years, you'd know this as well.
You're falling victim to the Republican and Media narrative, assuming he's liberal because he has some liberal stances.
It's the new kind of politics he's been talking about, and now that he's showing it, everyone is running around like headless chickens.
Posted by: Joe | June 30, 2008 5:26 PM
Obama should have smacked down the nuts at moveon.org months ago for their Betrayus ad. He needs to show he can distance himself from quacks like that. I guess better late than never, although this smacks of another decision from Obama based on politics as opposed to principle.
Posted by: Herbie H. | June 30, 2008 5:58 PM
He doesn't need to move to the middle very far. McCain has staked out a position so far to the right, Bush +, that he makes Obama look like a centrist by comparison.
McCain's shift to support lobbyists, Bush tax cuts, more wars and endless presence in Iraq, his abandoning his previous position on immigration, and his embrace of the religious right that he had previously criticized are all ample proof that he is a conservative far out of the mainstream. He's much further right than Bush was when he ran in 2000.
Posted by: Carol | June 30, 2008 6:14 PM
Of course he's moving to the center, they all do it. Too late. His pre-nomination 95.5% liberal voting record speaks for itself. It's nice to talk about Unity, but actions speak louder than words.
Why would anyone but the farthest left 20% of the country want Obama / Pelosi / Reid running the country?
Posted by: Independent | June 30, 2008 6:23 PM
No, I don't think so and I hope not. Senator Obama is our candidate, the Democrat's candidate and we have a proud tradition of working for the people of America, those who need the protection and service of our government !! He is also an individual who has opinions and sometimes they will be different than mine, I hope so !! What I do know is this, if I must, repeatedly remind the voters of America, or a segment thereof, that they should be aware of someone's missteps, maybe, even, misjudgments, concerning political action, or behavior, I will not hesitate to announce it, loud and far !! That means whoever it may be, a Senator or a POW !! If it happens to be a Senator cited for " questionable conduct ", who happened to have been a POW , like Senator McCain, you better believe I will shout it from the rooftops. It is no guaranty, but I don't want another serious mistake being made again, in our choice for the next President of our nation, America. That is why I will shout it, I don't want another President Bush and that is what I think a vote for Senator McCain will amount to, another grave mistake by we, the voters!!
Senator Obama is thankful for John McCain's service to America, as I am, but his being a POW, isn't a license to break our laws, I don't care who you are !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | June 30, 2008 6:57 PM
Well, Duhhhh.
Of course he is.
You gotta problem with that??
Posted by: ornery | June 30, 2008 6:58 PM
Geeeez! Look at all those American flags behind Obama and the flag lapel pin!
What Happened?
I know! "William Ayers, Rev. Wright and Tony Rezko are not the same people I once knew"
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | June 30, 2008 7:16 PM
The MOST LEFTWING senator. Pretends to "move to the centre" for purposes of the November election. Lies. Often. Will come home to the extreme left the day after the election.
www.nationalreview.com has a funny article by Victor Davis Hansen, onetime Trib columnist, predicting how Obama will try to use centrist rhetoric between now and November to disguise his hard-left policies.
Posted by: Bruce | June 30, 2008 7:38 PM
OK Victor Davis Hansen:
Is Barack a Spartan or an Athenian?
Posted by: ornery | June 30, 2008 11:07 PM
Bruce and Paulo sure love drinking the GOP Kool-Aid. Obama will run in the center. A president for all of America.
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | June 30, 2008 11:46 PM
This left/right bullcrap is OVER. Get over it.
Neither candidate can be called hard left or hard right, and they're both representing pieces of the other side.
It's a new era. Instant tunoff elections and open primaries country-wide are next!
Posted by: Joe | June 30, 2008 11:55 PM
Far right wing activist Bruce uses an article in the Ultra Right wing "National Review" by an author who ia a self avowed "Neoconservative".
From their perspective everone to the right of Anton Scalia is an extreme leftist.
Posted by: RightLies | July 1, 2008 7:17 AM
Providing immunity to companies that break the law is not moving to the center. Allowing the president to continue ignoring the fourth amendment of our constitution is not moving to the center. Obama will win more votes by showing us he will support and defend the constitution than he will by pandering to the 26%. They're going to vote for McBush anyway.
Posted by: Tom O | July 1, 2008 10:02 AM
The great Obama has / pretending to have, a little Republican in him now.
- He is not waving the white flag as furiously as he once was
- He has a convoluted plan to cut taxes for some lucky select group, once he and the other altruistic dems decide what fair and middle class really is
- He seems to occasionally channel the Truly Great Ronald Reagan in his speeches to a small degree
- As recently as yesterday, he quoted, or paraphrased the Truly Great Abraham Lincoln, Father of the Republican Party, in reference to a Lincoln statement on the greatness of America
- Most amazingly, he seems to recognize that there are some crimes so heinous that a state's right to apply the Death Penalty is the only fair punishment
- Could not make complete sense of his 3rd grade comments on the Hand Gun Ban Decision, but it was not a "Woe Is Us Now For Sure coz We b Liberals" kind of thing
- Has said that he is, amazingly again, supportive of President Bush's community / private group initiatives with mainstream religious organizations. Karl Marx would never be happy with this sign-up with the "opiate of the masses" arrangement.
All of this NeoCon-Wingnut Lincoln-Reagan-Bush may-be- good stuff is giving me a headache.
What a great country this is.
Posted by: Django Scott - Houston, Tx | July 1, 2008 10:33 AM
Both candidates are not worth one vote and those who vote political party lines should be embarrassed. By voting party lines you encourage the political BS . You are without independent thought. It always amazes me how gullible so-called educated people are. Flame me if you want but I won't vote for either one of these scum bags. This election cycle should be "Don't vote, it only encourages them."
Posted by: A Average Joe | July 1, 2008 3:11 PM