I would question that he is moving. He was always in the middle. More on that later.
The issue that matters now is whether his perceived move is undercutting his brand and actually making it harder for him to win. One thing is for sure. Obama and his top advisors made a calculated decision. First backing out of the public financing (I didn't hear much complaining from progressives on that one), then the FISA compromise -- on through death penalty, late-term abortion, reaching out to the faith-based -- and finally talk of "refining" Iraq policy.
That is a whole lot of adjusting in a very short time. They obviously decided to do this, and to do it all at once. They're not dopes. Why the rollout?
My guess is that they want to give true believers who provided his campaign with so much money and energy time to adjust. People should have seen this all along but, in their fervor, somehow they missed it. There is nothing radical or new about the substance of Obama's politics. He's a pragmatic centrist and he always has been -- even as president of Harvard Law Review, there he was, smack in the middle, holding the factions together. The best profile of Obama I ever read came out in May of '07 in the New Yorker. It was called The Conciliator.
Barack told us all the truth about himself. He said he's always been a Rorschach test, a figure upon whom people project what they want to see. He came right out and said that. And what has happened is that some activists with the policy inclinations of, say, Dennis Kucinich (that would be me) let what really is radical and new about Barack convince them that policy was part of Obama package (that would not be me).
What's radical and new about Obama is his person -- his youth, first of all, and the way he embodies postmodern fusion and inclusion in his very being. Also radical and new is the way he sees things, precisely because he has lived at the margins of various worlds all his life. He is uniquely detached and, at the same time, deeply empathic, able to understand all sorts of different people in all sorts of circumstances. In terms of character, there's never been a president remotely like him, except, yes -- Lincoln. Obama's already signaled his respect for a book called Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Check it out if you don't already know that Lincoln spent his entire political career in the middle, holding factions together.
What disillusioned Obama supporters must come to terms with is this: Barack has always been serious, however unrealistically, about bringing Americans together -- evangelicals, bowlers, red states, whoever. That isn't just rhetoric. That is his real ambition, his transcendental ambition, and he is going to persevere along that path. He really is post-partisan.
That's a new politics, isn't it? Many of us, including me, aren't going to like a lot of what that will entail. It doesn't confirm what we already know and assure us that we've been right all along. But that's what "new" actually implies, isn't it?
I do think, however, that the FISA thing is a different deal. He very explicitly told Feingold and Dodd that he would filibuster with them. He said that one week before Super Tuesday when he was desperate for votes in Wisconsin. Now he is actually going to vote for the darn thing. Also, I don't view defending the Constitution as fringe "Kucinich politics." It is not a right-left issue. It is a big money issue, as in: big telecom money.
I agree Senator, we are talking to each other, not you.
I respectfully submit it might be a good idea for him to be quite and listen.
As an independent I have re-set the switch and am collecting information in making my choice between him and the other candidates. Whether he likes it or not, independents are considering McCain and Nader.
In a few weeks the charges of being a flip-flop, will be the least of his political problems. Because as I read the tea leaves he and Democratic party are in a very weak position.
The issues loom large and they will come fast.
I realize he is very busy telling me and the other free thinking independents how badly we are at listening. But he may want to consider these for a moment and start crafting some real conversations with real people.
FISA
Impeachment
Ethanol
Taxes
Economy
Recession
Faith Based Initiatives
State's Rights
Gun Control
Same Sex Marriage
Immigration
Crime
Campaign Finance Reform
Denver
Your Cabinet
Bill Clinton
Nuclear Power
Oil Drilling
Osama
So if I and other independents seem distracted in the coming weeks and seem "not to be listening", please understand we are busy listening to all of the candidates.
This is not about Senator Obama. This is our choice. We all have one vote and I for one plan to use it in an independent manner.
I'm taking my ball and going home so I can cut off my nose to spite my face.
I'm sick to death of people on the left excusing this and calling it a "compromise"....Obama's move on FISA is not a compromise, it's selling out the 4th Amendment and the American people. As Bob Ostertag in one of his posts put so eloquently; this FISA sell-out is completely unnecessary, there is no constituency FOR warrantless wiretapping. I might add, unless you count the Neocons and K-Street. Change my ass.
To those who think this deep down, try "American" for once.
I am reconsidering my judgement on the candidate of my choice.
I am dis -enchanted, dis-allusioned, dis-heartned , dis-spirted, de-flated and also dis-inclined to contribute any more funds.
What happened? I guess that he did not exist, except in my hopes, and dreams for real change,,,I never really knew him
You are out of your mind. Not even close. You sound like a Fab 40'er making really weird statements backed by NO facts. Care to discuss this in depth - backed by facts? O has been remarkably INconsistent from day one.
Vote for this person "O", whoever he is, but hold his feet to the fire ... or else we - actually the next generation(s) - pay a massive price.
We do have a Constitution. In Article IV, it requires warrants. And in Article I (section 10) it forbids ex post facto law. Further, the Constitution requires separation of church and state, and provides for impeachment as well. Obama, the Constitutional law teacher doesn't seem to see any of that.
What he does see is the power of the office of the Presidency, and he apparently lusts after that undiminished power no less than do the fascists who are in power now. Obama is not moving to the center. He started, as you say, in the center and is moving toward and appeasing the far right.
Ultimately I have confidence that he will scotch tape the constitution back to its original condition, strive for a more egalitarian economy and restore our tarnished reputation throughout the world.