Is Barack Obama a Manchurian candidate after all? No, I don't mean closeted Muslim, or Muslim apostate, or whatever the Internets are calling him this week. I mean closeted Republican...or liberal apostate. The minute that Obama became the Dems' presumptive nominee, he traded his cloak of liberal-oriented change for the same thing that he saw John McCain wearing around town, a stylish pair of flip-flops.
Last week we talked about his convoluted back-tracking on campaign finance, but Friday's flip-flop on the U.S. Constitution -- and the right of the government and corporations to spy on you -- is a less inside baseball, and a lot more serious. To make a long story short, when Obama was wooing liberal Democratic primary voters, he promised to filibuster any bill that gave retroactive immunity to lawbreaking telecom companies. But now he won't -- he only says that he'll "work" to remove it from the final bill...kind of in the way that the Washington Nationals are going to "work" real hard between now and September to win the National League East.
Good luck with that, Barack. The scariest thing is that I don't think that Obama is done drifting to the right. I wouldn't be surprised if recycled inside-the-Beltway center-right hack Sam Nunn gets the nod for veep. Why not. now that that pesky Democratic primary thing is out of the way. Is this why they call him "presumptive"?
While the campaign-finance and domestic-spying flip-flops seem a lot different -- both are rooted in the same principle, and it's a dubious one. Obama seems to be winking at his supporters and saying: You know I'm the best guy and I'll do the right thing once I get to the Oval Office -- so let me say or do whatever I think I need to for now, in order to make sure I actually get there.
But while none of this changes the all-important fact that his opponent McCain would be a disastrous third Bush term for America, Obama's underlying message is still a morally dubious one. The best way to show America that you'll be a stand-up president is to be a stand-up candidate for the job. Saying one thing and doing something else on a core issue like the future of the Constitution is a bad signal.
I will say this: Obama's actions since claiming the nomination show how ridiculous the wildest Manchurian candidate-spinning Obama haters truly are -- pushing the idea that he's somehow unpatriotic or un-American. In fact, Obama is a politician with a (mostly) good message and a great story who really, really wants to be the president of the United States -- and will do or say whatever it takes to get himself there.
Is there anything more all-American than that?
UPDATE: Just saw that Dick Polman made pretty much the same point on this, while reminding us that at least Obama didn't fry some mentally retarded kid like Bill Clinton did to make the same political point in 1992.
Hey Will...How about touching on Barry O's ties with the ethanol industry as written about in the NYT today...another flip flop on mr. O's scorecard---somehow being in bed with the ethanol industry resembles bush being in bed with the oil industry, no?— Shemp Howard
Obama lied to the far left of the party during the primaries. That is pretty clear. On the other hand during the GOP primary McCain continued to advocate comprehensive immigration reform, cap and trade, closing Gitmo, and refused to advocate torture dexspite pressure from the far right. There is a reason the country overwhelmingly sees McCain as more honest than Obama. Obama refuses to change on Iraq or drilling even as conditions change, but when it comes to the direction of the political wind, Obama is remarkably flexible. :)— bon- "...There is a reason the country overwhelmingly sees McCain as more honest than Obama...." Really? Do you have ANY evidence to back that claim?— Talking point sleuth
- SHHHH...Don't criticize Barry O..or you will be labeled a neo-con, racist, bigot...
- Will I know you read dkos, so I'll just refer you to some of the pieces there that explain it better than I can. Basically, you're ignoring the fact that pragmatism has to trump principles in an election. This has been true for centuries. You're also ignoring the fact that the FISA compromise is likely filibuster-proof, and that mounting a filibuster would do nothing except provide free campaign commercials to the GOP. Obama is not doing or saying "anything" he thinks necessary. You're treating a minor change in strategy as a major change in policy.— Politburo
- If Obama is lying to the far-left Democrats, he is just following in the footsteps of a lot of Senators who lied to the far left during the mid-term elections? Nancy Pelosi et al got elected by promising to do something about Iraq.— Captain Awesome
Obama doesn't owe the far left anything, but he does owe Bush everything.- "Hey Will...How about touching on Barry O's ties with the ethanol industry as written about in the NYT today..." Will's too busy ignoring the emerging Chris Dodd Countywide scandal. And he's too busy wailing about the telecom compromise bill to notice that Dodd has legislation proposed as part of a bailout for Countrywide that would also require reporting of payment card information back to the government. Talk about a privacy violation. But I guess it's OK when a Dem does it...— db_cooper
- I cannot find the particular poll I was thinking of, tps, but you are right that the most recent poll (USA Today) that asked the question shows Obama with a slight lead on matters of honesty. Obama's continuing shifts away from his primary rhetoric should make short work of that, though. :)— bon
- "But I guess it's OK when a Dem does it..." . . . . . . . . . Time to rethink that unitary president idea, eh?
Comment removed.- A bit melodramatic there, Will. Obama always was, and Will always be, a fairly moderate Democrat. I'm surprised that you ever bought into the frightwing spin that he's some far-left liberal. And your characterization of him moving to the right post nomination is also an inaccurate generalization - his positions on FISA and not going with public financing notwithstanding. Try reading his recent speech to the U.S. conference of Mayors (on Saturday); it lays out a very "progressive" platform on metropolitan policy.— Talking point sleuth
- "Time to rethink that unitary president idea, eh?" I'm far more concerned about the legislature, quite frankly, given this nonsense along with their bipartisan veto override of the Farm Bill.— db_cooper
- But this is the guy of hopeandchange, hopeandchange. He's not supposed to be doing typical politician things, I HOPE he gets called on this for a CHANGE.— Ramon
- Another terrorist attack would give McCain a big advantage in the election.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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