OMG! They Say Obama Is Changing

By: Teddy
Published On: 7/12/2008 8:27:50 PM

"Obama sliding to the middle," "Obama modifies stance on Iraq," and, that dreaded "Flip-flop by Obama on- whatever." See all those people  fed-up with politics-as-usual, utterly stressed out of their gourds by 8 years of Bush, not to mention us populist progressives, who fell in love with the junior Senator from Illinois who so perfectly expressed our frustrations and promised us Change, now announcing they have been betrayed or, if not quite betrayed, at least very, very hurt that he is making noises reminiscent (to them) of old politics-as-usual... that, Yes, Obama is "changing."

Oh, really?  I do not see it exactly that way. Think back to how this began.  How delighted we were to hear our own muddled message expressed in such pellucid prose, almost like poetry.  How satisfying and endearing to realize that here was a real, honest to God leader with brains, will, and an ability to inspire not just the already faithful but many more of the generally apathetic and uninvolved, and bring the diversity that is America together for a common purpose.  The infatuation was too hot not to cool down at some point, but that does not mean the object of our admiration and love has betrayed us, not if we were really listening to him. This is what is happening:

The Movement is changing into a Campaign
When Obama brought us all together we joined a Movement in the classical sense. Then, amazingly, Obama actually won the right to run for President as a member of a specific political party, the Democrats. Now, canny politician that he is, he is running a campaign to become President, and running a remarkably well-organized and efficient campaign at that.  Is that not what we all earnestly desired from Day One (our Day One, I mean)?  Or, are we progressives so used to being beaten down that we simply cannot deal with the itty bitty grittiness of, well, campaigning to win, and are so astonished at being successful thus far that we are now doing everything we can to undermine our/his success because we, like, can't stand prosperity?

If you paid attention to what the Senator SAID you could figure out that he is not about ideology as such, he is all about intelligent, pragmatic process. He does not do stupid, he does not like stupid, he is about getting things done for the common good, and that means old-fashioned principled negotiation, i.e., compromise. Apparently each of us heard a reflection of our own particular interest in Obama (and those messages are also in there, to be fair), but missed the kernel of his own message.  As Gail Collins wrote in New York Times and OpEdNews.com on 10 July, Obama made it sound as if "getting rid of the 'old politics' involved driving out the oil and pharmaceutical lobbyists rather than splitting the difference on federal wiretapping legislation." The truth is, in the real world, you cannot make major changes at one fell swoop, it happens incrementally, and, if you are to make the changes stick, you lay careful groundwork and bring others along with you, often to their own surprise.  This is how a Movement eventually reaches the tipping point, changes the landscape forever, and eventually wins---- instead of resorting to primitive violence in the hope of instant, total change, thus destroying what it is you are trying to save.

As Collins says, "Most of the things Obama's taken heat for saying this summer fall into these two familiar patterns---- attempts to find a rational common ground on controversial issues and dumb-avoidance." Example of common-ground: more federal money for religious groups that run social programs, but only if the service they offer is secular. Example of dumb-avoidance: if he is going to Iraq to talk to the generals, "one should actually pay attention to what the generals say."  Bottom line: the man has a head on his shoulders, his heart is in the right place, and he has given every sign of having good judgment and self-control to go with his leadership skills. I think it would be wise to trust that judgment and not nit-pick and fine-tune him over whatever our personal special interest is.  That would be old Democratic politics-as-usual. This does not, of course, preclude letting Obama know how we feel about certain things like FISA, and, interestingly, that is exactly what has been happening unrestricted on the MyBarackObama.com website.  

Hear what Frank Schaeffer says, a self-described former Republican, a white middle-aged, middle-class man driven out of the GOP by Rove-Bush, whom Obama converted: "Having been raised in a fundamentalist evangelical home I know fundamentalism when I see it.  And the progressives carping about Obama becoming too centrist or too religion-friendly- whatever- reminds me of my mother complaining about this or that evangelical pastor or group who's (sic) theology wasn't 'pure' enough." (Http://www.opednews.com/articles/Progressives-Carping-About-by-Frank-Schaeffer-080703-369.html).

Needless to say, the Republicans are stoking the fires of the progressives' disappointments, continually treating everything Obama says, every incident they can dredge up, as a flip-flop, a politically motivated "move right," "a betrayal of his "base"... see, Obama is nothing more than your usual politician.  Remember, that is the Rovian technique of the old politics, hit your opponent on his strength and weaken him so he is more easily upended and defeated.  They helpfully tell us what to think, even how to phrase it, and unfortunately I hear their selected phrases repeated by supposedly good Democrats, perhaps unwittingly. Do we want to do the Republican's dirty work for them? Don't we all agree the absolute worst outcome of all this would be an affirmation and restoration of Republican Rule? (I do not say Republican leadership, because that has been non-existent).

It is worth quoting what Gregg Heacock wrote in The Movement that Drives this Campaign:  "As a community organizer, Obama has learned that, to make change, he must, first, acknowledge the value of the positions that people have taken.  It is only when people feel accepted that they see they don't need to defend themselves.  That is when they are able to look at a situation from a different perspective." (Reminds me a bit of Mark Warner's political expertise).  This does not mean, for example, that Obama renounces war; he simply is against dumb war.  He has made a conscious decision to turn his Movement into a campaign in order to get to the next level of creating and imposing change. That is something different from heading a movement, and he must now speak to Americans in the more familiar terms accepted by them of a campaign. This may not be easy for some participants in his movement to accept, but it is a very shrewd choice Obama has made.  We should protect his back in public, not snipe at him.    


Comments



He was in the middle on much from the start (Rebecca - 7/12/2008 10:07:05 PM)
Obama on guns during a primary debate:

I believe in the right of an individual to own a gun, but I think the localities should have the right to regulate.

On Iraq during the primary:

I will be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in.

On Pakistan during the primary:

He said he thinks Pakistan is more dangerous than Iraq and that if we have actionable intelligence from Pakistan and they will not act, we should. Remember that?

On the military during the primary:

We need to build up our military. The military is broken. We need to use it wisely.

On abortion during the primary:

He stated that he supports a woman's right to choose but thinks every abortion is a tragedy.

Now some of these are areas where the mainstream (Repub leaning) press has claimed he has moved to the middle. Doesn't look like it to me though.

As a progressive I've always appreciated Obama's ability to step outside of left and right dogma. Apparently many others had other ideas.



Great diary (Catzmaw - 7/12/2008 11:16:25 PM)
I've been yanking my hair out over the silliness from both right and left on this.  It's bad enough that the punditocracy is asking these idiotic questions and talking about a "move to the middle" and "flip flopping", but I can't understand why more Obama supporters don't see what's going on here.  I, too, threw in with Obama rather than Hillary for the very reason that he IS more likely to think through a problem and try to come to a mutual understanding.  Moreover, he's a very strategic and tactical thinker, willing to defer a fight until he's certain of winning, and hopeful of avoiding one if the goal can be met another way.  Hillary turned me off with the relentless "I will fight for you" message.  I kept waiting to hear some indication that it wasn't just about fighting, but about getting the job done.  Ass kicking is only good if it actually gets you somewhere.  

There was once a time in this country when people from both sides of the aisle understood that we need government, and the only way to make the government work well is to come to some consensus on most things.  That notion went south with the polarization introduced during the Reagan campaign and people now believe that government is all about one faction of special interests dominating another.  Enough already.  



You put it perfectly (Barbara - 7/12/2008 11:45:05 PM)
...people now believe that government is all about one faction of special interests dominating another.

Time for a new approach.



We've been so polarized (Teddy - 7/12/2008 11:39:04 PM)
by the radical right, which has taken over the Republicans, that normally sensible Democrats respond like Pavlov's dog to every little thing that comes up, and first thing you know we are obsessing about absolutely nothing. That is stupid, and Obama doesn't like stupid. He deserves better from us. I see that the always diligent pollsters now announce Barack has "lost" his double digit advantage and he and McSame are now running neck and neck. Congratulations to Rove for tossing another successful apple of discord among the ever-eager to respond, unthinking Democrats. Sheesh!  


I Still Love Barack Obama (Lee Diamond - 7/13/2008 12:04:56 AM)
I never left Barack.  Not that I am a groupie or an unthinking person.  There is no doubt in my mind that a lot of the points made here are true.  For the most part, I agree with Obama's decisions, certainly from the standpoint of political strategy.  I think he is doing a great job of remaining centered and focused on doing what he needs to do.

I do not care what Arianna and all the other so called experts think.  Maybe we should not give Glenn Greenwald so much help selling his book.



Exactly so (Teddy - 7/13/2008 12:15:05 AM)
you are correct (I no longer say you're "right"). The complainers should re-read his two books. His command of the English language drives the righties nuts, and they call him "glib," in an effort to trivialize and disparage his verbal dexterity, but it is about time we had a President who can actually articulate his ideas in a coherent fashion... and, even has ideas of his own. I thought his speech at Robinson was remarkable, and, despite sometimes complex sentences, he was not talking down to his very diverse audience. He actually believes ordinary people have brains, and deserve to be treated as though they matter. What a concept!


Excellent diary, Teddy. (Lowell - 7/13/2008 6:54:51 AM)
Meanwhile, David Broder has some profound thoughts (heh) about all this. ;)


Obama must not alienate his base (Teddy - 7/13/2008 12:04:01 PM)
or at least any significant part of his base, and he needs to get a grip on Clinton's backers and her base, and so far I have not seen that he has succeeded in doing that. You do have to dance with the one what brung you. He seems to have leaped over that messy phase of the election process by acting sometimes more as though he's already elected, and that could be a fatal error.

There is also the fact that, repeatedly, McCain and the Bushies have emphasized that they cannot "allow" Obama and/or the Democrats to win.  So, they may not (allow it). Bush/Cheney have shown plenty of evidence that the law means nothing to them; Susskind in his book  The One Percent Doctrine describes how a young Bush in a pickup basketball game would deliberately stoop to a nasty personal foul simply to throw an opponent off stride in order to go on to win what was only a game. No ethics, no honor, do anything to win.  



I trust Obama (Rebecca - 7/13/2008 1:06:04 PM)
I sense that Obama is a centered person who thinks clearly, has good manners (as opposed to George "Do you need a backrub?" Bush), an efficiency of expression, a tendency to think things out, and a genius for management. In short, he has everything one would want in a thoroughbred of a candidate without the genetic weaknesses. We are very lucky to have him as our representative in these perilous times.

I'm not saying he will never make mistakes. I'm just saying he is the best candidate I have seen come along in the last 35 years.



It's probably better that he is... (carman788 - 7/13/2008 1:21:44 PM)
I don't think BHO is becoming more centrist and conservative in his views. But I do think he's acting the part. He has to in order to appeal to centrist voters. Al Gore and John Kerry maintained extremely centrist views during their runs to appeal to Midwestern voters.

I think BHO's new "centrist" image will also appeal to independents or dissatisfied voters right here in Virginia, especially in places like Roanoke and the suburbs of Richmond (and even here in NoVA) where views are more towards the center generally.

I think once he gets to the Presidency, those views will silently evaporate and he will adopt his original views again. This "acting" is necessary to get votes and become President, right?



I thnk that Obama is a pragmatic progressive (Lowell - 7/13/2008 1:25:33 PM)
like many of us here at RK.  He'll make a great president, but first he needs to get elected.  Let's all not lose sight of what's at stake here (hint):



Progressives are not universally popular (Teddy - 7/13/2008 5:40:08 PM)
although it pains me to admit it. The truth is in America, although what we think of as progressive positions or policies are, when presented without a tag (i.e., calling them "progressive") actually approved of by most Americans,these same Americans have a knee-jerk antipathy to anything labelled "progressive" or, worse, "liberal."  (which is why Republican candidates are so quick to label a DEmocratic candidate or proposal "liberal," like a swear word). Republicans have really done a number on these labels. So, a significant majority of voters dislike, even hate, us. The only way Obama and Democrats in general can win is to be "centrists." Sad but true.

I spent Sunday afternoon canvassing for Obama and Warner in the City of Fairfax, and there still are a surprising number of people who say, "I always vote Republican."  "Regardless of the candidate himself?"  "Yes, absolutely."



Gail Collins had a similar point (Silence Dogood - 7/14/2008 12:14:51 AM)
last week in the New York Times.  Worth a read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07...

I've been supporting Obama since Mark Warner dropped out because Obama was the more-centrist candidate.  Hillary wanted to mandate healthcare for everyone; Obama's plan was less far-reaching, and more pragmatic.  Hillary was more boiler-plate blue collar on the trail.  Obama was a bit more fiscally conservative.  Obama talked about changing the map and bringing moderate Republicans to the table; some people apparently thought that meant tricking them into being liberal, but I think all of us Virginia Democrats probably realized that this inevitably means that he's going to try and meet them somewhere around half way, much the way Mark Warner met Republican Senators half way on raising revenues by first cutting spending.

What candidate were they supporting over at DKos?



edit: wow I'm dense (Silence Dogood - 7/14/2008 12:18:58 AM)
I apparently managed to skip the paragraph where you mentioned the Collins column I linked to in your post after I clicked through to read the full text.  So, um, guessing you saw it already!  Sorry about that.

But at least now people have the link--it's very well written.