When primaries have run their course, all wise candidates seek to grab center ground prior to the fall campaign. Ten days ago Obama’s moves were noted by both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, which the newspaper of record called “artful pirouettes.”
It has become a bridge too far too fast, even for a newspaper that has shamelessly promoted Obama since he clinched the nomination.
Among the flip-flops, many of which are noted by Charles Krauthammer, NAFTA, telecom immunity, campaign finance, the death penalty, gun control, pulling troops out of Iraq, funding of religious organizations, abortion and the conditions of sipping tea with Ahmadinejad.
So fast and furious are Obama’s moves to the right that he’s thrice had to “clarify” his remarks, respond to and beat down the howls coming from his own base.
Lesson: You’ll be excused a few slips and turns toward the center after your primary. Do too many too quickly and you’ll risk looking like an unprincipled whore.
