Random, Recent Obama Thoughts

Here’s my random thoughts I’ve had recently on Obama. Barack Obama has just started realized that in order to win this election he needs to transform himself into the average American in terms of his demeanor and his views on the issues. The problem? He just finished running a ridiculously long and expensive primary where he had to paint himself as an elite liberal in order to keep his support base. The Average American isn’t an elitist liberal, in fact…they’re hard working, they would rather have less given them from the government if they’re able to keep more of their hard earned money, they are starting to realize the progress in Iraq and are supporting the surge, they don’t think running out of Iraq by the end of 2009 is a good idea, they don’t support coddling our enemies, they don’t support spending our hard earned tax dollars to rebuild Africa instead of rebuilding here at home, they don’t support driver’s licenses for illegal aliens (which Obama was on the record supporting), the list goes on.

Obama’s been given a pass from the media for his shifts on the issues, but recently some of his shifts are starting to be noticed. His refusal for public financing really made the very people he used to build up his support angry – the media. His shifts towards the center on Iraq are starting to make the anti-war left nervous, and perhaps more likely to be open to the idea of Bob Barr or Ralph Nader. In both cases, they feel betrayed by Obama’s realization that those who come out en masse to vote in the Democratic primary…aren’t the same people who will vote in November. The Party of MoveOn.org and Daily Kos isn’t the party that nominated Obama…they’re just the primary goers. Proof positive that this is the case are the 2006 elections of Joe Lieberman as an Independent in Connecticut, despite losing the Democratic nomination and the election of socially and fiscally moderate to conservative Democratic Senators in Virginia and Pennsylvania (Casey and Webb). The Democratic Party still is, at its core, the party of Bill Clinton, not Al Sharpton; the party of Joe Biden, not Chris Dodd. These are the stalwarts who will vote in the general…not the flash in the pan voters who jumped on the bandwagon for the primary. There’s a reason after a while despite out spending Clinton nearly 2 to 1 in some states…Obama kept losing to her. Obama needs these voters, or he’s done for and as he courts these very voters…he’s going to make the anti-war left which nominated him in the first place really, really angry. Hopefully, for America's sake, he’ll make them just angry enough to vote against the would-be first President of color.

Just some random thoughts, opinions always welcome..

Cross posted from Matty N's blog