Huffington Post: "Obama Undercuts His Brand" (FISA vote bites him on the ass)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Sen. Barack Obama is risking his brand as a political reformer, according to reports today in the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. In recent weeks, he has moderated or changed positions on a number of politically-charged issues, leading to criticism from demoralized Democratic activists and charges of "flip-flopping" from conservatives.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/28/obama-undercuts-his-brand_n_109758.html

The Times reports:

In recent weeks, he toughened his stance on Iran and backed an expansion of the government's wiretapping powers. On Wednesday, he said states should be allowed to execute child rapists. When the Supreme Court the next day struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns, he did not complain...


..."I've been struck by the speed and decisiveness of his move to the center," said Will Marshall, president of the centrist Progressive Policy Institute...

...And Obama endorsed a compromise wiretapping bill despite stiff opposition from liberal activists. MoveOn.org, the liberal online activist group, asked its members to flood Obama's campaign office with phone calls and e-mails urging him to support a filibuster of the bill.

The changes carry some risk that Obama will diminish the image he has sought to build as a new type of leader who will change how Washington conducts business. McCain and other Republicans have used his recent policy statements to argue that Obama is a traditional politician, unwilling to take clear stands on tough issues and abandoning his principles when he finds it advantageous.

[patrice]

1. I heard that that was a procedural vote and the actual "up or down" vote has not been scheduled yet.

[PBS Poll-435]

2. He was supposed to take part in a filibuster, IIRC.

:shrug:

[patrice]

8. A caller on Air America/Thom Hartmann said that last vote was not the

up or down vote. I have not had time to research this yet, so I don't know either. :shrug:

[BzaDem]

3. Good for Obama. "Undercutting his brand" = pissing off his base who will vote for him anyway, so he

can get votes in the middle that he might not have received.

Looks like we might actually elect a Democrat, at the horror of his "progressive" base.

[MoonRiver]

4. I just love me an upfront, sell-out cynic.

:eyes:

[cbc5g]

5. LOL so true

[MadHound]

7. You think? I know a lot of his "base" that are feeling left way behind and could very well go Green

Frankly what is the good of having a Democrat in the White House if they're going to act like a Republican? Didn't we see enough of that with Clinton? After all, if it wasn't for the corporate friendly policies of Clinton we wouldn't be in near the mess we are today.

Sorry, but if Obama continues going this way, he's going to lose a lot of votes, including mine.

[bunnies]

9. Yeah! Who cares about the supreme court anyway?!

Not you!!! :thumbsup:

[FrenchieCat]

6. I'm just tired of hearing the Whine

Which is why Democrats lose elections.....cause candidates get attacked from every which way.

It is one thing to voice an opinion in whatever way required....it is quite another to beat a horse until he's dead....which is what is happening here.

Barack Obama may well be defeated; by his own party, if this keeps up.

It's not like anyone here knows how to win a general election, and Obama's stance on this bill that has already passed the house will not change a damn thing.

Enough already.

You all are giving a whole lot for the media to go with. At this point, after all of the gnawing of teeth and clenching of fists, Obama won't win, and then what?

I can barely come to DU anymore....cause it fucking makes me sick.

It reminds me of a woman stranded on a deserted island all alone. After 5 years of this and going out of her mind in desperation for company, she runs up on a man washed ashore from a shipwreck. The man although nearly dead is alive. A few days into nursing him back to health, she realizes that the man reminds her a bit of her ex-husband. Not in everyway, but small habits like snoring, and not being complimentary and thankful enough to her. Because of this she decides that he should move to the other side of the island, which he does. At some point, the man, who hadn't yet fully recovered from his wounds of the shipwreck, dies due to exposure. Every day after, the woman sits and waits at the shores, just in case she might be blessed with a 2nd chance. She still waits.

[MattP]

10. You mean according to the Washington Post and Tribune Co. and passed by Huffingtion post.

The Huffingtion Post is starting to (or always has) pass on gossip and innuendo reported by the MSM as fact just because they are the MSM and than it reported by other people as fact because it is on the Huffingtion post.