Obama Undercuts His Brand

Sen. Barack Obama is risking his brand as a political reformer, according to reports today in the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. In recent weeks, he has moderated or changed positions on a number of politically-charged issues, leading to criticism from demoralized Democratic activists and charges of "flip-flopping" from conservatives.

The Times reports:

In recent weeks, he toughened his stance on Iran and backed an expansion of the government's wiretapping powers. On Wednesday, he said states should be allowed to execute child rapists. When the Supreme Court the next day struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, he did not complain...

..."I've been struck by the speed and decisiveness of his move to the center," said Will Marshall, president of the centrist Progressive Policy Institute...

...And Obama endorsed a compromise wiretapping bill despite stiff opposition from liberal activists. MoveOn.org, the liberal online activist group, asked its members to flood Obama's campaign office with phone calls and e-mails urging him to support a filibuster of the bill.

The changes carry some risk that Obama will diminish the image he has sought to build as a new type of leader who will change how Washington conducts business. McCain and other Republicans have used his recent policy statements to argue that Obama is a traditional politician, unwilling to take clear stands on tough issues and abandoning his principles when he finds it advantageous.

The Post reports that those who should be his strongest supporters are taking this as a wake-up call:

The switch is not without precedent. On a variety of issues, including gun control and campaign finance regulation, the presumptive Democratic nominee has shown himself willing to settle for incremental changes in the face of political reality rather than to hold out for the sweeping and uncompromising positions he initially stakes out.

But even some who should be his core constituents -- in the Democratic Party's progressive wing and the liberal blogosphere -- have taken his recent maneuvers as a wake-up call. They are warning the senator that in his quest to reach voters in the middle of the political spectrum, he risks depressing the enthusiasm of the voters who clinched the nomination for him.

"American voters tend to reward politicians who take clear stands," said David Sirota, a former Democratic aide on Capitol Hill and author of the new populist-themed book "The Uprising." "When Obama takes these mushy positions, it could speak to a character issue. Voters that don't pay a lot of attention look at one thing: 'Does the guy believe in something?' They may be saying the guy is afraid of his own shadow."

Comments

[lboucher]

"When I go to Iraq and I have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I'm sure I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies," he said, according to CBS News.

Obama later said at a second news conference he still intends to stick to the timeline.

The original Obama plan, still on his website, promises: “Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months.”

Also on the web site this promise--Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months

In a separate six-page Iraq plan, he says in a section headed “All Combat Troops Redeployed by 2009”: “The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to begin immediately to remove our combat troops. Not in six months or one year — now.”

Obama what the freaking heck IS YOUR REAL POSITION!!!!

[CanuckforObama]

Kerry's loss to Bush should have been a wake up call to all progressives and democrats. Progressives simply do not have the electoral college votes to decide an election. If the election were decided solely on popular votes that would be one thing, but the need for electoral college votes hamstrings the ability for a progressive candidate to win the White House. Obama emerged from the primaries with too many bumps and bruises. He had to realign his position after the endless mantra repeated in the media that he could not win swing states and blue collar whites. I wish he did not have to do this but believe he must, otherwise the Repugs will label him a wimp. Furthermore, taking a principled stand on many of these issues is simply too difficult to articulate through the media and will inevitably be distorted and used against the candidate. Obama is playing it safe even though it is troubling to hear at times. The goal is to win this one and break the Repug stranglehold.

[transendentilist]

Obamians are just dis-satisfied righties.

[transendentilist]

"Under cuts his brand?"

What brand is that? Say anything to get elected then do what you want despite the voters??
Telecom immunity, Faith Based Initiatives??? This guy is George Bush with a tan.

[JohnTalbutt]

Grover Norquist said he was John Kerry with a tan. The obsession with color gives you a lot more in common with Grover than you may realize.

[jojojo]

He's doing exactly the right thing, moving to the center, both to win and to govern effectively.

If he doesn't move center, he loses. He can't do anyone much good unless he wins.

The center will still be far to the left of what we've had for 8 years, and if he governs from there, we'll be in good shape, maybe 8 more years of peace and prosperity as under Clinton....not so bad, in my book.

[transendentilist]

The center??? You have a strange sense of where the center is. The center would be no to telecom immunity. The center would be no, to faith based initiatives. The center would be no to more funding for the Iraq war. (a war Obama is sooooo against)

Wake up sheeple.

[MrMephistoX]

THE CENTER?? would be avoiding raising telecom rates on strapped consumers and enriching trial lawyers who garner massive legal fees while their clients net only a few hundred bucks at the end of the day.

This is how our system works unfortunately, telecoms have us by the balls and there isn't a whole lot one can do about it unless we have a democratic majority and executive control.

Wake up naive radicals as uncompromising as your right-wing counterparts.

[dl63]

Obama is our candidate. Who do you people want to see win, McSame? Now is not the time for Democrats to attack his position. When he gets into office, there will be plenty of opportunity to pressure Obama on the issues, but doing this now, in this manner only serves to benefit the opposition.

Look what a lousy job Bush has done, but have the Republicans cut him off at the knees? NO. That's why they win elections. They let the opposition destroy their candidates. While I deplore the Republicans for their support for Bush during his presidency, I admire how they rally around their candidate regardless of their feelings to secure their candidates victory in the election.

Democrat's goal should be to help Obama win the election. After the win, our objective should be to support the right issues and oppose if necessary, but now, let's get him elected.

[AbstractImp]

Where has my Obama gone
Short time passing?
Where has my Obama gone
Such a short time ago?

Where has my Obama gone?
Gone to gather everyone!
He thinks they’ll come along,
He thinks they’ll sing our song!


Why has our Obama gone
To red pastures?
Does he think Obama song
Plays there as well?

What is our Obama song?
Bring this hope to everyone!
This time we hope they learn
We hope this time they turn.

[donkat]

Obama will get things done - maybe not at the speed we would hope but in Washington, compromise is the name of the game and without it, you get nothing accomplished. Zip, Zero, Nada. And O, warts and all, will always stand head and shoulders (literally and figuratively) over MC.

I'm a gun control advocate married to a hunter. I used to argue with him all the time but I'm glad we've got them now. Those Blackwater mercenaries will be coming home and Eric Prince might decide God told him to take Washington. We've financed, armed and trained an army that pledges no allegiance to our government and that really scares me.

[takeBackUS]

We need a new nominee. Obama is changing his position on everything that matters. Maybe we can choose a different nominee at the convention.

[luxou812]

I was wondering the same thing

[generaldelivery]

Don't worry, we can always draft Hillary at the Convention.
If Obama won't prosecute the phone companies for illegal wiretapping, he's definitely not going to impeach Bush for illegal wiretapping.
Why nominate a fake centrist when we can have the real thing?

[112985]

i am dissappointed in Obama - he is changing everyday - I guess the only way i will vote for him is Hillary is on the ticket or I will have to vote John Mccain - atleast he is not changing as fast as Obama is - I kind of thought he might do just what he is doing - He is a Phony!!!! people we dont no what we will be getting>

[iblis]

All this is just a cynical, cold hearted, calculating move on Obama's part to portray himself as the "Maverik", and thus dupe independents and some Republicans into voting for him. Obama's real intentions are reflected by his voting record in the Senate, which is in fact the most liberal voting record in the Senate!

Obama seems to have adopted the Clintons mantra for success and that is to say anything, do anything to win. Last week, in N.M Obama spoke about making pay equity for women a top priority and his support of a Senate bill in this regard to make it easier to sue an employer for pay discrimination, but an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men, in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men.

[wildessa]

Obama is the same Obama..many did not loisten to him when he insisted that we need to create ONE America and not to define ourselves so strongly by affiliating ourselves with red or blue stances.

He is a visionary. He knows where he is heading and how he wishes to accomplish his goals.

[Jazzcomedian]

1. I have come to detest this whole "building or undermining the brand" business ad nauseum in sports, entertainment, and politics that's sprang up in our culture the last few years. It smacks of the commodification of humanity--a trend that turns us all into nothing but products. It's dehumanizing to me.

2. I'm a JFK fan, and have studied his presidency, and also have a book of his speeches which are still inspiring to read. For all the inspiration of his too-short presidency, his administration was very pragmatic in its policy goals--and unable to pass his proposed civil rights legislation. It took his assassination and LBJ to do that. His vision is what makes him memorable.

3. Obama has never been a far left idealogue--though having the most liberal Senate voting record. He's intelligent, humane, and most importantly a good, and deft politician. Carter was intelligent, and humane, but a terrible politician, hence nothing got done. Obama is a pragmatist and his vision is of an inclusive democracy. Many people thought that only meant as to all races, classes, and women, but he also meant to all political, and religious viewpoints as well--even those diametrically opposed. That's the way he ran the Harvard Law Review when he was president. There's his governing style. Can it work on a national political level? I've seen far too many disappointing presidents to have great expectations. I'll settle for an intelligent, sincerely humane, pragmatic politician in the White House.

[wheresthebeef]

I'm with you. I'm old enough to have been a Virginia state delegate for George McGovern, and a Gene McCarthy supporter. For all my troubles, I got Dick Nixon. I'll bank on Barack Obama being an improvement over George Bush and a better alternative than John McCain. The rest, my friends, is mere politics.

[luxou812]

JFK was a terrible president. -- Gore Vidal

[gobarackgo]

It's up to Barack to define his brand. Not the blogosphere. There are too many OCDs (Obsessive Compulsive Democrats) out there trying to do it for him.

[Deaninphilly]

Well sorry, but that is the fault of the dem's. They have let this party get taken over by the obnoxious far left. Just like the far right is bad so is the far left. It's only a matter of time before they are sent packing like the Rep. centrist did with the far right.

[sa]

barack blew this one,
thankfully, early in the game -
there is time for correction.

the olbermann option looks like
divine intervention -
an amazing grace in the nick of time.

one only hopes barack learns
from this - that his appeal has nothing
to do with the bogus games of
washington, and polls, and business as usual.
barack came to the dance as: the visionary - politician as artist.
he has been given the charge of pulling america from its death spiral.

he miss understood what we loved in him.
instead he started to go for what we least hate in the other options -
in other words, he became a politician,
and not a leader.

all of us lost a little humanity that day.

barack - see the vision, and follow through.
i believe you are seeing my vision too.

p.s. god's speed.

[luxou812]

KO is misinformed and his strategy is severely flawed. Why do you just accept this stuff? This is a terrible bill that screws you. BO took $65,000 from Verizon -- more than any other house democrat. There's your reformer.

Wake-up to this guy.

[ChristinDemocrat]

What ever comes out of Wes Clark mouth is gospel and anyone who denies that is a fool. He knows what he is talking about. Go Wes.

[flamflurm]

Gospel is all nonsense, so I agree.

[TomPerPace]

too early to make this judgement, I guess.