Where does Obama fit on the conservative/liberal scale?

[old mark]

Where is he? Is he very left, centerist,what? Does this even mean anything anymore?
I read a right wing post this afternoon that expressed the opinion that Obama is a Marxist.
But then they also think McCain is a Democrat.

I don't know. What do you think?

mark

[ananda]

1. Obama is rightwing but..

.. a little to the left of McSame.

[thoughtcrime1984]

4. Of course on DU, Kucinich is a centrist, with everyone else far to the right....

[NeedleCast]

25. Hahaha

True.

[11 Bravo]

6. Or, in the real world, slightly left of center.

And by any rational examination, FAR to the left of Grandpa McSame.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. I'd say far left, with broad appeal into the right.

:shrug:

[Captain Hilts]

5. Why don't you just say "He is uniformly loved by all." ?

He's no Feingold or Barney Frank.

Neither he nor Clinton voted in Congress or campaigned as progressives.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. Because that would be untrue.

Enemies of liberalism dislike Obama. So do the Naderish drama queens who say they're all the same.

He's got a good liberal scorecard when it comes to congressional votes, and in less tangible qualities like his opinions on the war, death penalty, and the drug war.

[SoxFan]

3. The old labels don't fit very well

Like most politicians of his generation, Obama is, at heart, pragmatic. He doesn't easily fit into the old liberal vs. conservative framework.

He was against the Iraq War from the start, but has worked with hawks like Nunn and Lugar on nonproliferation policy. Is that liberal or conservative?

He has partnered with Tom Coburn to reform the budget process and make it more transparent and accountable. is that liberal or conservative?

[seasat]

7. He was slightly left of the average Democrat in his Senate votes

Here's a neat site that ranks votes based on all the votes where over half the Senate voted instead of a select few. In the 110th Senate Obama ranked 10.5 out of 101 with top rank going to Russ Feingold at number 1. In the 109th Senate Obama ranked 21st out of 101. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002216444_bush23.html">McCain was one of the most conservative except for the 107th congress.

[Cleita]

8. I find him left of center right now, however, there seems to be

glimpses of him being more of a lefty in the past. If he gets elected and we show him that we want him to be more liberal, he could warm up to the idea, I believe.

[harun]

9. Pro-corporate, anti-populist, religious neutral, anti-socialist, pro-environment, pro-technology

pro-constitution, anti-imperialist, GLBT neutral, anti-corpo fascism, anti-neocon, pro-zionist, intellectual neutral, welfare neutral, military industrial complex neutral.

So on the Liberal Conservative scale that puts him (in my opinion), to the left of Hillary and to the right of every other Democratic candidate who ran for the nomination this time around.

[Extend a Hand]

10. political compass has him here:

http://www.politicalcompass.org/usprimaries2008

[polichick]

12. Where have all the liberals gone? :(

[TahitiNut]

13. Personally, I find that to be the most appropriate depiction.

Far, far more accurate than any other topology I've seen.

[NeedleCast]

29. Really?

I usually find that particular test to be terrible. I'm not sure of the metrics behind it, but I'd be interested to know what they are considering that test puts Gravel and Newt Gengrich in about the same position on the Left-Right spectrum.

[TahitiNut]

30. Well, it seems to me that you're not understanding the "Left-Right spectrum" then.

At least what it means on THAT graph. What people in THIS country typically mean when they say "left" and "right" is mostly vertical on the Political Compass ... "social" issues. I tend to mentally "map" the hackneyed "left/right" to a line that runs about 25 degrees to 205 degrees on the Political Compass. The problem, as I see it, is that people (even on DU) just totally fail to comprehend the economic/corporatist spectrum ... and fail to appreciate that it's even more of an impact on our lives than the vertical. Mention the word "corporatist" on DU and it seems only 10-20% have any decent comprehension about what it means.

Let's face it ... we're appallingly IGNORANT of such thngs in this country. The average European is far better informed politically than the average DUer, even.

[wiggs]

19. interesting chart. So Obama isn't a radical leftie as Hannity has said? nt

[TooBigaTent]

11. Check out PoliticalCompass.org for one view of all the '08 primary candidates.

Sorry, but I cannot do a good paste.
The real meaning of their scale is that it shows how regressive almost all Amerikan politicians really are, especially compared to their European counterparts.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/usprimaries2008

[ElsewheresDaughter]

14. a hair right of center

[GihrenZabi]

16. Left of center

I don't think you can call any politician "liberal" who is not vocally in favor of gay rights/gay marriage. That's a big litmus test for me.

[democrattotheend]

15. I think he is hard to pinpoint because he's not an ideolog

I think his instincts are liberal but he is not dogmatic. He wants to hear all sides of an issue and then decide based on what makes sense, not what's ideologically correct. That means he's going to make us mad sometimes, but I think it's (at least to an extent) a genuine desire to find the best solution, as opposed to merely selling out to corporate interests.

[uponit7771]

17. Right moderate fiscally, left moderate socially....MOST of America is

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

18. He's NOT liberal. He's NOT conservative. He's a centrist but not a corporate, DLC Dem.

[FrenchieCat]

20. He doesn't "Fit".........

Labels are not his thing....as he has mentioned time and time again.

Why force a round peg into a square hole? :shrug:

[old mark]

22. I kind of feel this way, too,

but I think he is more of an opportunist than anything else.
Although he does seem to have a real opinion on some things and he actually says what he thinks in public.

I think he is very smart, and very adept at what he does and I believe he will be a great president.

mark

[FrenchieCat]

23. Please provide me examples of this "opportunist" label that you have foisted

on to Barack Obama.

Thank you.

[old mark]

32. I believe he is pragmatic rather than an ideologue.

I was pretty much agreeing with your post.

mark

[Captain Hilts]

31. 'Cause everyone else gets typecast. nt

[mudesi]

24. In the rest of the civilized world, Kucinich is a CENTRIST

That should tell you all you need to know.

[wyldwolf]

26. based on the standards set on DU, he's a centrist

[Occam Bandage]

27. In the context of American electoral politics? He's pretty left-wing, with a willingness to

negotiate/compromise on issues when he finds himself in a position of political weakness, and with broad appeal extending into the center-right.

[mvd]

28. In current American politics, slightly to the left

In reality IMO, he's pretty centrist (as is Hillary,) with Bill Clinton slightly to the right and most Repukes FAR right.

[Douglas Carpenter]

33. by international standards he would be a slightly center-right conservative

by American standards he would be a slightly center-left liberal/centrist-

Certainly not "left-wing" by either standard. That's absurd.