Obama's Worst Enemy? His Shadow

Progressives are easy to displease, but it will take a lot to make them lose faith in anything.  Or anyone, for that matter.  That is good news for Senator Obama, after this last week of what are seen as blows to the progressive following he has built.

His shifts in position in regard to gun control, the death penalty, and wire-tapping, have come as a punch to the liver to his left-leaning followers.  He stayed mute when DC took out a ban against handguns.  He vocalized that he believes child rapists should be eligible for a death sentence, after the Court ruled otherwise.  He even endorsed the renewal of FISA, to the behest of moveon.org and the petition they tried to pressure the senator with.  He is carving out a more centrist, and yes, even more conservative hole for himself.

Should we be surprised? Hardly.  Politicians take this road all the time.  It should not be seen as a character flaw, but a realization that the political process demands it in order to win campaigns.  Put simply, the way we select our candidates, and eventually our presidents, demands that they first campaign to the most active party members that will vote in the primary (usually those with strong ideological inclinations), and then make themselves more mainstream for the general election (focusing on numbers, rather than fervor).

Where does this leave Obama, a self-labeled 'reformer', a man whose campaign's central theme is 'change' and a new brand of politics? His appeal will not be hurt, overall.  He knows progressives will have to bite the bullet, more so than ever before, since the only other option is McCain.  There are no lesser than two evils, there is only evil and hope.  Obama is doing what he needs to do to broaden his appeal beyond active african-american members of the Democratic party, young voters, some independents, and the educated few.  His problem is one a politician has not faced in sometime, however, since his move to the center, as to be expected for any presidential candidate, takes away some of this novelty.  He will be like every other politician trying to make his appeal to a country, rather than a county.  He will not be Obama, a supra-political figure as much as he was a month ago.  Or two, or three.  

Obama needs to realize that this mainstream moves are smart, but not easy.  He must be extra careful, more than McCain will ever need to be, to keep his appeal as a cause leader and expand his appeal as a world leader.  If he can manage to do both, he will be a shoe-in.  If he trips over either one, the other will follow suit.  If the American people see he tries to label himself as something other than a politician as we know them, but does just what see politicians do all the time, he will come off as a charlatan, a rain man that cannot deliver in a time of drought.  This is why a convincing campaign by him will speak to his skills as  a diplomat, a leader, and an organizer of people.  He is his own worst enemy.  His shadow is larger than anyone else's.

lhp