As Obama moves into the mainstream campaign strategy it is extremely importantly that his liberal base does not waver in their support of him. His decision to abandon public funding was the shrewdest political move yet. If he had opted to use public funds he would have squandered an enormous money advantage he has over McCain and that allows him to compete in formerly traditional Republican states. If he had to decided to abandon the millions of dollars his supporters give him every month--with average donation not topping $100--would have been stupid! Not principled, but stupid!
It is important for the liberals to understand that if we want to change America, we have to win. That means moving to the mainstream and redefining the narrative in order to appeal to more people. It does not mean abandoning one's principles.
And on the so-called "incident" involving Obama volunteers banning headscarf-wearing Muslim women from attending one of his rallies: it was NOT Obama who did this. It was a couple of young, nervous volunteers and Obama has apologized and anyone who has followed his campaign knows that Obama vehemently disagrees with this kind of behavior.
The liberal left, of all people, should not pick over his campaign tactics and start debilitating his campaign even before he defeats the Republicans. I am sure we will have plenty of time to pressure him and criticize his policies once he is President. But please let's first make sure he does become President.
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Fedja, as much as I agree with you, you know full well that any move Obama makes to the center--such as in his introduction ad on TV in 18 states right now that is laden with religious ideology--means a compromise in liberal premises. I'm not going to get gay marriage from Obama. I won't because he wants to appeal to people who think I'm an abomination but won't be super adamant about it. At the end of the day, I still lose, because he won't take the principled stand he should on the issue. So, sure, support Obama and don't criticize him. But realize people like me are ultimately left out.
Perhaps Obama was never really that progressive (I remember reminding everyone he was a new a liberal at his heart) to begin with, so calling his move to the Right a "betrayal" might be a bit unfair. And as you know, I've critized the hard left and academic left for criticizing him for nothing more than failing to be their ideal canidate.
But having said that, when a liberal or progressive canidate changes his or her message in order to appeal to the "mainstream" it takes the ideas of the mainstream to be unchanging. Thus appealling to them reinforces this formation of what may be considered a "normal" or "mainstream" political position. Needless to say, this contributes to strange tilt of this country's political scale - in which the so called Left is further to the right than Merkel or even Sarkozy.
I am supporting Obama, but what I've liked about him to this point was that he answered questions clearly, intelligently and unapologetically; explaining his position and avoiding equavocations. This was a rarity in American politics, but sadly, it might be over now that we are out of the primary season.
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