On the issues in question: With regard to public financing, I think that only serious campaign-finance wonks have really complained about Obama's decision. Most people understand that if he opted in, he'd be sacrificing probably at least $200m, likely more. In addition, Obama's average contribution is $90, so, while he obviously has raked in his share of fat-cat money, he's also established, via the internet, a model of fundraising that's far more democratic and open to regular people of regular means. He should have been more honest in the way he talked about his decision, but, substantively, he did the right and necessary thing.
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the Supreme Court decision, Kennedy v Louisiana, most liberals are implacably opposed to the death penalty, and the idea of extending it to non-murderers is abhorrent to many people. So the sight of the Democratic nominee saying that the death penalty was an appropriate remedy in this case has been tough for some folks to swallow.
Tough for others to swallow is what Patrick Kennedy did. He repeatedly raped his eight-year-old stepdaughter, causing massive internal injuries. He left her to die, but her life was saved by multiple surgeries.
Substantively, Obama's position is in keeping with past statements. He's never been a blanket opponent of the death penalty, supporting it in cases where "the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage." One can disagree with that position, and I do. But it's kind of hard to argue that a crime like Kennedy's isn't deserving of the full measure of outrage.
But here's the thing. Kennedy is African-American. It's pretty easy to envision the attack ad that could be made against Obama if he'd taken the position here some liberals wanted him to take. An image of Kennedy appears on the screen, photo-shopped to make him look terrifying. Sinister music swells. The voiceover intones: "Barack Obama wants criminals like Patrick Kennedy to have a chance to go free so they can rape children again." And so on.
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Obama has, in fact, taken a number of strong stands that might hurt him. He did back the supreme court on habeas corpus rights for non-citizen detainees – not a popular position. He's against offshore oil drilling while polls are showing that majorities support it. His is a position that could harm him in the crucial state of Florida, but he's taken it. He'll presumably continue to stand his ground on opposing the federal gas-tax repeal, a position John McCain might choose to revive at some point. And he will have to defend this fall his support for increasing the capital gains tax by up to 10%, as he will assuredly be attacked for that. He supports a large cap-and-trade scheme on carbon emissions that will surely be attacked as a tax on business. And so on
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jun/26/barackobama.uselections2008
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