I don't think Obama is that far left. Do you?

[leftyladyfrommo]

Doesn't seem like it to me. Maybe that is because he is just about where I am so it doesn't seem that far out. I think he just makes good sense.

[Parche]

1. he will be the only one left tomorrow

:woohoo: :party::hi:

[soleft]

2. I wish

[cynatnite]

3. He's a centrist...

He's not as liberal as I'd like him to be, though.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. I think I am to the left of Obama...but that is OK.

[nonconformist]

5. No, he's not. He's more of a centrist.

Which is probably why he has broad appeal.

[OKNancy]

6. No. That's just a dumbass Republican talking point

I think Obama's answer in one debate is best: ...I'm just voting against Bush....

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Nope, not at all.

Quite centrist.

[Virginia Dare]

8. He's left enough for me..

I just don't think he'll be a rabid ideologue, he will be the true uniter, I hope.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Nope, he is a centrist, but to the far right

anything to their left is FAR LEFT

Then again the US really does not know what a far left looks like

[ailsagirl]

15. Yeah. Anarchy

:scared:

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. Wrong, anarchy is not left or right, but believe in lack of gov'ment

next

[Pyrzqxgl]

10. Obama is on my right, I'm sure. I'm a 4th generation leftie & I'm proud of that.

[sellitman]

11. As a card carrying DK supporter I think he is almost conservative.

Almost

[Kazak]

12. Reality has a leftest bent...

:shrug:

[Sherman A1]

13. He is far too conservative for my tastes, but

he is as close as I can get to DK and he is the nominee of the party so he gets my vote.

[RobinA]

32. Yep

30 years ago he would have been a Republican

[dkofos]

14. He's not as left as I am.

[Mike 03]

16. No, of course he's not. I've noticed that in every election, the Dem candidate

is the "most liberal" in the (house, senate, etc..)

Just more strewn crap that doesn't stick anymore because people know better and are sick and tired of hearing it.

[IndianaJones]

17. no and thank goodness. nt.

[skooooo]

18. Time will tell..

I don't think anyone really knows until he starts his agenda.

[cobalt1999]

23. Exactly.

Politicians say what they have to in order to get elected.

We'll only know when this is beyond the talking stage and he is actually doing something.

[iamahaingttta]

19. I was one of those early in the primaries...

...who believed he was way too corporate for my taste.
And since then, in things like his vote for FISA and the bailout, that has proven to be correct.

However, so many of his other good qualities balance that out, for me, that I'm very excited to have him be our next president.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. No, I don't.

In fact, that's why I wasn't really terribly impressed with him early on. Too much of a centrist for me -- but undoubtedly MUCH MUCH better than McCain.

[Idealism]

21. The GOP touts his voting record

as being 97% for his own party. Well shit I think thats a good thing when you look at the last few years he has been voting against Georgie. I never understood why it was a bad thing to be on the opposite side as Bush on almost every single issue...

[SteppingRazor]

22. There's no such thing as "far left" in American politics.

In Europe, the Democratic Party would be a barely center-left group, with the Socialists, Communists, Greens, Democratic Socialists, etc., etc. all to the left of them. For all intents and purposes, there is no American left -- at least not within the power structure.

So, even if we take the National Journal's word that Obama is "the most liberal senator" (and that in and of itself is a highly dubious claim, particularly given the existence of Bernie Sanders, Russ Feingold and a few others), it still wouldn't mean he was particularly far left, from a certain point of view.

As far as American politics goes, though, I'd certainly call him more liberal than many Americans.

[rainy]

24. I think he is a lefty. He is very smart and knows how to win, but, I do believe

he is a progressive. After-all, he did sit in rev. Wright's church for all those years. His true colors will glow once he gets in. Remember how centrist they all try to play it when running for office and notice how right the current admin. went after they won.

[dtotire]

25. Centrist n/t

[codjh9]

26. Nah - probably not nearly as left as I'd like him to be, particularly on the environment...

but we always have to take what we can get, and I think he's great in general.

[aquart]

27. Not at all, dammit.

I'd be jumping for joy if he were half the things the Republicans insist he is.

[Kitty Herder]

28. No, he's not.

He's centrist, and in American politics these days, that's pretty far right. That's why we as citizens have to keep up the pressure on him and Congress to do the right things, like creating real, true universal healthcare, and getting out of not just Iraq, but Afghanistan. Getting Obama in the White House isn't the end of our work to get this country back on track; it's the beginning.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[leftyladyfrommo]

31. It's not just the brothers. I think its all kids.

And I wish that fad would blow on by. I just hate it. And all those boys walking along with one hand holding up their pants. That has got to be really uncomfortable.

But who am I to talk. I used to sleep with juice cans on my head and my head hanging over the edge of the bed.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

33. No - he's only far left to right wing extremists who view the progressive income tax

and social security as radical socialistic ideas.

[IsItJustMe]

34. Not in my book. Seems like he is against gay marraige, pro gun, pro kicking ass in Afganistan, pro

military spending, and he agrees with what Bill Clinton did with welfare.

On the liberal side, Obama wants to cut taxes for people making under 200,000 and everyone able to get health care.

That is by no means a strong liberal to me.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. Not at all--he's a complete centrist

Yet the right-wing loonies who post on my local paper's website keep repeating the mantra "He's a Socialist."

I have provided them with the link to the actual website of the Socialist Party USA, so they can see what a REAL Socialist believes, but I suppose they don't want to be confused by facts, because if they had to admit that their radio and Fox News mind programmers were wrong on this count, then they might have to actually THINK about the other things they've been told and EVALUATE the claims.

By the way, I don't think being a Socialist is a bad thing at all. My relatives in Norway seem quite contented, and the cousin who visited me last summer cut short her trip across the U.S. and went home.