Swinging to Center
Or The Moving of the Lips
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at
11:28 pm
Mr Obama is, as we speak, swinging to center. A question for those few who read this blog and support Mr Obama. Apparently, he is reneging on his, perhaps most emphatic primary campaign promse, that of “immediate” pullout from Iraq. I’ve three question(s):
- Do you believe the shift a lie? Why is this the lie and not the prior promise?
- What shift, if taken by Mr Obama, would cause you to no longer support him?
- If there is none, what does mean?
Or, if you want to explain the “shift” is due to “changes on the ground in Iraq”, uhm, those changes have been plain to see for almost the entire primary season. It seems disingenuous to just notice it “now” when it’s politically convenient is not inherently dishonest.
Filed under: Democrats • Mark O. • Politics
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A dustup over war policy — one of the main issues separating the Illinois senator from his Republican opponent, John McCain — overshadowed Obama’s town-hall meeting here with veterans to talk about patriotism and his plans to care for them. Republicans pounced on the chance to characterize Obama as altering one of the core policies that drove his candidacy “for the sake of political expedience.” He denied equally forcefully that he was shifting positions.
If he DID alter his position, he’d lose support. Would his supporters abandon him? Probably not, because we perceive McCain to not be in the ballpark at all of planning on ending this war soon.
Given a choice between a candidate who may waver, but says he’s at least open to ending this occupation soon and a candidate who is planning on staying the failed course, we’d choose to support the candidate who was at least open to abandoning the failed policy.
I believe her Iraq War vote, probably more than anything, is what derailed Clinton’s campaign. Were Obama to wave on that now, it would likely hurt him among those of us who want a change in policy.