Obama's move to the center

Obama's recent move to the center is emblematic of the strategy American left.

In his desire to be seen as a moderate, Obama has clung to policies which many liberals might not agree with: first came his decision to not accept public funding for his campaign, then came his 180 on FISA and telecom immunity, then his endorsement of the Supreme Court decision on the legality (or lack thereof) of gun control in D.C., then a high-profile speech to conservatives in which he expressed his desire to continue and even expand George Bush's faith-based charity programs.

Whether or not these policy choices are indicative of what the man believes is not for me to say, but I think most of you will agree with me that they seem to pander to the right. Where has that gotten us in the past? And why is it that the left always seems to feel the need to move to the center while the right doesn't give a good god-damn about what the rest of America seems to think?

(On a side note, the Political Compass confirms what many commentators have already said: that the American right has become so extreme that Democrats have followed them. As a result, most Democrats are right of center; only Kucinich is on the left, and then only moderately so.)

I must admit that at first I was kind of upset by all of this. I truly believed that Obama was the genuine article, a once-in-a-lifetime politician, a visionary, etc. I read his books and I was sold.

But listening to the New Yorker's editor explain why they published that already infamous cartoon on their cover, I realized that perhaps Obama isn't as new and fresh as he seems. And is that really a bad thing? Why not have a cut-throat Democrat, for a change? After all, Obama's not a stupid man. Maybe he's doing what he thinks he has to to get elected.

We'll see. In the mean time, my feet are firmly back on the ground.