Will Liberal Base Let Obama Move To The Center?

Washington Independent:

t seemed so right just two weeks ago. This was in Elkhart, Ind., and Sen. Evan Bayh, mentioned as a possible running mate of Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee, seemed more than a long-shot possibility for the vice-presidential slot. That day, Bayh was more than probable. He was the one.

It made too much sense. Outside the packed high school gym, one couldn't help but understand why Bayh would be a perfect sidekick to the man. Here, from the nation's heartland, was a contemporary of Obama, who could help him take perhaps not only Indiana but also surrounding states -- maybe even Ohio. Bayh, son of a respected senator, had been a governor and had extensive foreign-policy experience.

More important, at least that day, Bayh seemed to share Obama's boyish energy and fervor, speaking with eloquence as he introduced his fellow junior senator from the neighboring state. Bayh could help Obama run the table through the Midwest, even those still considered red states, or so I thought. Moreover, as men born of the same generation, they would make for a matched pair in the same vein of William Jefferson Clinton and Al Gore. Here were two handsome, erudite men who would stand for the next era in the Democratic Party.

Read the whole story: Washington Independent

Comments

[tbone99]

He left us quite a while ago, we're stuck - given the other choice.
; (

Actually I blame the Obamabots and MSM more than him, they refused to allow any other candiate to be considered.

[jmpurser]

I hardly think it will be too much concern for the liberals that will be Obama's downfall. He sold us down the river early and often. Now the three top contenders for his number two are two pro-Iraq war hawks and a pro-coal energy guy. So we're going to get sold again.

Once again the Democratic party wanders out in the middle of the wrong damn road and will no doubt wonder how it got run over again.

[j0em0mma]

No, we won't. We've had enough triangulation, thank you very much. The 5 corporations that own the MSM and the Republican party have managed to portray the center Right Wing as the center. Obama is already as far to "Center" as we can allow with FISA, Faith Based Initiatives and pointless Coastal Drilling. Can't we have a government that actually represents the people for once?

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/03/alterman_book.html

[OhReallySheSaid]

Its a curious state of things when this site which regularly used to published the democratic leaning Zogby poll now has ignored it for a second week. The latest poll is historic: Support for BHO among dems dropped 6% in one month, women down 8%, voters under 35 down 12%, Catholics down 12%, Southerners down 11%, and Zogby states he still has much to do to solidfy his own base.

I cannot remember a time when the democratic nominee was not ahead in the polls prior to his convention. BHO needs a new game plan to connect with voters. Lofty platitudes and saying things like "that's above my pay grade" won't cut it when what voters are looking for is meat and potatoes. So far we've been getting brie and wine.

[j0em0mma]

Could it be that Zogby was so spectacularly wrong in the primaries (and is out of sink with other major polls) that they are no longer credible sources? Yeah, it's historic alright; historic how such an inconsistent and oft wrong organization can have such a high profile.

[Lemeritus]

The very interesting poll that OhReallySheSaid is referring to is available at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/46457.html. Make of it what you will, joemomma. The vexing conundrum still remains -- with almost 3/4 of the country unhappy with the direction in which the country is moving, why does Obama only have a 1.3% lead?

[BuckarooBanzai]

The great fallacy of Clintonism, and the reason its practioners have lost so many elections, is that there is no center. Its an illusion. There are no voters in that spot that the Clinton's say exists between "left" and "right". In fact the terms "left" and "right" have become essentially meaningless.

The voters that exist outside of the committed Republicans and Democrats, are not centrist. They are pissed off. They despise the politics that is either craven/corrupt or weak and gutless. Republicans get these people because even though they may disagree at least they respect that they stand for something.

Picking someone like Bayh whose entire career has been spent caving, triangulating and avoiding anything meaningful will not net Obama any new voters. What it will do his lose him a lot of committed support.

[Lemeritus]

Your first paragraph threw me, BuckarooBanzai, but your second paragraph was spot on!

I've quoted Peter Gabel before (and will, now, again): "A real left needs to do the opposite of defending the empty center, which is perpetually self-erasing and actually blocks the development of a progressive movement. Instead, we must try to emerge into public visibility -- visibility to one another." Obama's stubborn stasis in the polls seem to indicate he's not successfully courting the marginal Republicans, nor convincing the "empty center", or even shoring up support within his own base. Many believe his compromises are signs of genius but, like you, I'm not so sure.

[research]

Yup.

DLC

[tbone99]

The problem is liberal visibility on the web was confined to supporting only one candidate - the guy with the kickass PR handlers .... Obama.

[Gary47]

This just proves again, as it has for decades, that many Democrats are absolute and utter fools. It's two months before the election and their having a revolt? The insanity of this is unbelievable. Whatever Barack does is a billion times better than what the other side will do if elected. Wake up and grow up people. It's time to get our man elected. Period. Anything else on your agenda waits until after the election.

Republicans understand this, as they've demonstrated through multiple elections over the these. Many, many Democrats seem incapable of getting the lesson. I pray that changes, and changes soon.

[barackobama4prez]

Democrats want to lose. Since they can't seem to understand what's at stake....w­hich is basically they either elect BHO or suffer under JSM, God help the USA and the world. McOldy wants to bring back the draft. Time to move to Canada. If Jmac is the preferred choice in this country, I'm out.

[cdub1991]

Judging by some of the comments that I see on HuffPo, it would seem that Obama has no choice but to try to expand his appeal to as many folks as possible because he apparently can't DEPEND on the liberals to support him. Kinda pathetic, really. There are a lot of folks in this party more interested in maintaining their own claim to moral purity than they are to winning.

Will Obama's wing be a complete victory, for liberals? As complete as one can reasonably expect in a democracy whose populace has such a broad ideological spread. The real path towards implementing liberal polices doesn't begin and end with whose in the White House. It's about large building working majorities in both Houses (and that might include some moderate republicans). It's also about rebuilding the party at the local level (especially in red states) to create infrastructure and develop effective, qualified future candidates. (It's called having a "deep bench" for you non-sports fans.) You have to be willing to expand your time horizon if you really want to transform a society. Electing Obama is just the first step, not the last.

[bigbingtheory]

Excuse me? Moral purity? Screw you! I don't know what comments you are referring to but I don't see many liberals running away from Obama. Are we to compromise our principles and just shut up like good little sheep and blindly support the Democratic nominee? We're the ones who defended him agaisnt Hillary's attacks. You are way off.

[cdub1991]

Who said anything about compromising your beliefs or shutting up? My point is that you have to be in it for the long haul, and that means pursuing long term objectives through short term gains. My comments are a result of what I've been noting on this board for the last few months. I got into an extended exchange a while back with someone who was no longer going to support Obama because of the one issue of his FISA vote. Now--I didn't like the vote either, but the notion that we should abandon the candidate because of one single vote to me makes no sense. How is that any different then the abortion test that the republicans insist upon. I guess I think more holistically than that. But no--keep your believes and continue to fight for them. Just don't invest so much in whether Obama agrees with everyone one of them that you lose sight of the forest for the trees.

[Lemeritus]

Did you, by any chance, read the entire article above? I recommend it, in its entirety, to everyone before they post -- it weighs, more completely than I've seen thus far, the pros and cons of Obama's move to the center.

Campaign after campaign has sought the middle -- liberals and progressives have been left behind or relegated to licking stamps. This year SHOULD be different. Sridhar Pappu, writing for The Washington Independent, quotes Robert Gibbs, Obama's communications director, as saying:

"If you look at where the American people are, we're where the American people are on issue after issue after issue. Whether it's getting responsibly out of Iraq; or forming an energy independence plan -- think Sen.Obama'­s where the American public is.

"The great thing is that the base wants change and independents in this country want change. As a matter of fact, moderate Republicans want change. I think we're fortunate that we have a message that carries across all of those platforms.­"

The operative word here is CHANGE -- not clinging to the yellow line, not Republican lite, not seeking detente at Saddleback Church. How 'bout for once -- instead of liberals getting slammed for not supporting the candidate of compromise enough -- we get a candidate that supports the liberal agenda?

[cdub1991]

I did read the entire candidate and I actually agree with the assertion that the American people are where Obama is and that they can be taken the rest of the way toward the progressive point of view. A couple of points.

First, I don't agree with the notion that Obama has moved much to the center. I think he's where he's always been, its just that some people have used him as Rorschach test and seen in him what they wanted to see.

I also agree that CHANGE is the word, but maybe I'm thinking it needs to be attacked in a particular way. First, the national government is so broken now that it has to be fixed and "unjammed" before anything good can happen. That's Obama's game. Second, social change should be more a matter of leading people to your position as opposed to shoving it down their throat. We have to do the hard work of convincing people that changes are not just ideological positions, but rational ones that are in their best interest and Americas. That's not just Obama's job.

[Gary47]

Absolutely right. Getting Barack elected should be the only thing on anyone's plate right now. After the election you can push and push and push whatever brand of progressive twirls your skirt. But for the next two months, the ONLY thing that matters is getting our guy elected. Don't like it? Then at least do all you can to destroy McCain's campaign. And remember that whatever great work you did during the primary counts for nothing now. Get over it and get back to work!

[tbone99]

I think support engenders support. Backing FISA and faith based subsidies is not supporting liberals. Neither is changing his mind on NAFTA, vouchers and reproductive rights.
Holding grudges against people in the party who backed another candidate doesn't build support
either.

[Bobleblah1]

This premise that the nation is too moderate, is a lie. Sen Obama had already successfully moved the electorate to the left and he did so in spectacular fashion. While some would argue that Obama had already been compromised by the money interest by that point, I still think this took them all by surprise.
It wasn't so much republicans that were terrified, it was the corporate power that was terrified.
Universal health care, ending the war, windfall profit tax. This stuff seemed a certainty with an Obama Presidency just two months ago. It seems pretty clear to me that someone got to Obama, whether it was his campaign advisers or something more murky, its irrelevant.
I dont know that many people who believe that Obama will fiercely pursue these changes. Theirs nothing fierce about his approach to support that belief. Corporate power is telling Obama that they wont allow him to actually do this stuff and he knows that they wont, but he has made all these promises so he has to find a way to avoid being a liar. Meaning he will keep moving to the center (code word for corporate), which will unfortunately make him look more and more like a phony.

its almost a no win situation, and that is the case with every Democrat.
The system does not allow them to be real liberals, which by default turns them all into
panderers and flip flopper when on the big stage.

[UnbiasView]

" it was the corporate power that was terrified. Universal health care, ending the war, windfall profit tax"

That doesn't even makes sense, business would love nothing more than to dump the healthcare costs off to the government, it would save them trillions.

I fail to see how 99% of corporations care about the ending the war but the windfall profits tax is something that should scare any business owner . . . if you become too successful, we'll decide how much money you can earn.

[bigbingtheory]

Businesses would love that, except those in health care. Endiong the war would mean that war profiteering would stop. Windfall profit tax obviously scares them because they are greedy pigs. I love the windfall profit tax, especcially when they have these profits by avoiding paying taxes and outsourcing American jobs over seas. I am not sure why so many people are so sympathetic to multi billion dollar corporations. If I'm taxed, they should be taxed. If I earn more, I should be taxed more, same for them.

[Bobleblah1]

UnbiasView

So let me get this straight, The health insurance industry isn't corporate power?
What planet do you live on?

The military industrial complex isnt corporate power?
What planet do you live on?

[Bobleblah1]

Wow! that article was full of bad advice.

Its clear to me that the people who give Sen Obama his orders are not as smart as I thought they were. Their equation can never balance. The rulers of this country are so scared of real liberalism that they will sabotage their own plans in order to avoid real liberalism actually taking hold in any substantive way.

The public line that corporate power takes is " The country is really moderate, you cant win unless you move to the center"

continued.­..........­..........­..........­..........­........

[fishsandwichesr2good]

Psst. The latest Zogby/Gallup poll puts McCain up by 5 points. My guess would be that BO's flip flopping BS is becoming painfully obvious to those of us who live outside the land of Huffandpuff. Are you suuuuuuure you don't want the nominee to be Hillary?

[UnbiasView]

Flip flopping is overrated.

Views change with the times. In a time of crisis, like energy or war, I hope people will adjust their viewss so that they can correctly fix the situation.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

BO must be a deep thinker. He's changing his views on major issues in record time. LOL

[bigbingtheory]

Hillary? No. She'd be buried by now under the weight of past sins, real and imagined. Republicans hoped for Hillary, they've been preparing for it for a decade. I don't think Obama has flipped on anything.H­e's capitulated on some issues sure. I would say Mc Cain's succesful negative ad campaign coupled with an absent Obama for a week probably lead to the latest results.

[antaeus]

Enough with the "sins" nonsense! Hillary would be leading for exactly the reasons that were pointed out earlier: a big chunk of the American electorate will remain suspicious of a youthful and perceived inexperienced Obama. Period.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

Um, no. With BO's decreasing popularity and rising negatives, I'm guessing that it's because the media and population have finally awoken. Like most rock stars, it was only a matter of time before the thin veneer faded and he flamed out. Bye bye BO.

[j0em0mma]

Any statement based solely on a Zogby poll has about as much factual evidence behind it as a Fox News Story...

[fishsandwichesr2good]

LOL. Just a few short days ago, huffpo had a post citing Zogby as one of the more credible sources with respect to the presidential polls favoring BO:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-nickolas/the-medias-problem-of-fal_b_118420.html

[alamacTHC]

Will we "let" him "move to the center?" (read: "Will he desert us and pander to the corporatists?")

Apparently we don't have much to say about it, or he wouldn't have surrendered on FISA and much else.

[MBryant]

Both Obama and McCain are charging pell-mell to the center - and that's what they should do and always do. Who will do the best job of getting those centrist votes? Who will burn the fewest bridges and have more of their more extremist base not stay home? That's the game that will unfold in the next few months.

However all voters - left, right, and center have been trashed by the neocons. The politically aware ones - which are often in those more extreme bases - know this. The religious right and Reagan Repubs are not pleased with the neocons. Both were betrayed. The working class union Dems and progressive Dems are not pleased with the neocons. The thing is, if McCain won't break with Bush - he'll lose his own base anyway - not for rolling to the center - everyone knows he's going to do that - but because the neocons are poison. So conservative Republicans who won't vote for Obama may also not want to vote for four more years of Bush and it won't be how moderate McCain is - but how Bush-y he is to determine if they stay home. Obama should benefit for the flip of this. Sure Obama maybe rolling to the center, but what's the alternative? Four more years of Bush neocon government. That prospect is too awful to stay home.

[KarlaElisa]

I pretty much thought he STARTED OUT as a centrist. I'm worried bout him moving to the RIGHT.

[UnbiasView]

"I pretty much thought he STARTED OUT as a centrist"

That means you are pretty far left.

[S1m0n]

On the other hand, she probably knows how to use the word "unbiased" correctly.

[bigbingtheory]

No, you're far right.

Obama is not Russ Feingold, not Dennis Kucinich either. They are left. Obama has been and is now a centrist who is drifting right.

Your ilk merely wants to portray him as a flming liberal becuase you've been villifying the left for dcades. When liberals tell you he's not, you cling to your myth implying we're trying to trick you.

You fail to ccomprehend that liberals are proud to be liberal and don't consider it the negative that you do. We have absolutely no motive to lie and claim he's a centrist. How many posts in the past few months had liberals hopping mad at Obama? If he's such a liberal then why were we upset?

[j0em0mma]

"Unbias" view... lol. Beware anyone with this moniker, they are almost always "Fair and Balanced".­.. like a schizophrenic on crack...

[colleen2]

"I pretty much thought he STARTED OUT as a centrist."

Oh he did. The folks who insist otherwise believe that the 'vital center' is represented by weak men like Harry Reid or Lieberman and Zell Miller and other speakers at the GOP convention. They're the folks who lose election after election and blame it on 'the liberals

[UnbiasView]

The more he stays away from the progressives . . . I mean socialists (same thing) . . . the better off he is. Hanging with a bunch of people that want to take working people's money to fund government programs is a guarenteed loss.

[bigbingtheory]

Exhuming McCarthy. Get a dictionary you idi ot. Socialism and communism are not the same as liberalism . But what do I know? I'm just a real living breathing liberal apparently ashamed of my true socialist leanings so I hide them. Get a life.

[UnbiasView]

Do you support socialized healthcare? Do you think government should have more control over business and the individual?

[UnbiasView]

Do you support the fairness doctrine?

[manicallday]

It is a mistake if he does. Moving never wins votes. Standing firm and backing your position is leadership and that is how you win votes. The more FISA and NAFTA flips he does, the more votes he will lose. The DNC just has no idea how to keep or get voters. Obama needs to stop shifting and start selling. Then take the energy used for shifting and start attacking. That is how you win an election.