Are You Disappointed in Barack Obama?

 
I've always been a bit skeptical of Obama. It seemed to me that he wasn't as sincere about his "progressive" stance as, say, Dennis Kucinich. I wondered whether he wasn't playing to a particular audience in order to win the nomination.

Apparently I'm not the only one. There are a group of Americans who have become very nervous about Obama's move to the center. They've written an open letter to Barack Obama that's been published in The Nation [Change We Can Believe In].

The authors of the letter make the important point that the progressives who were attracted to the Obama campaign are the very ones who will ensure a victory in November. They are worried that these progressives will not make the effort to work for Obama if he continues to abandon the core principles that attracted them to the primary campaign.

We urge you, then, to listen to the voices of the people who can lift you to the presidency and beyond.

Since your historic victory in the primary, there have been troubling signs that you are moving away from the core commitments shared by many who have supported your campaign, toward a more cautious and centrist stance--including, most notably, your vote for the FISA legislation granting telecom companies immunity from prosecution for illegal wiretapping, which angered and dismayed so many of your supporters.

We recognize that compromise is necessary in any democracy. We understand that the pressures brought to bear on those seeking the highest office are intense. But retreating from the stands that have been the signature of your campaign will weaken the movement whose vigorous backing you need in order to win and then deliver the change you have promised.

I think they have a point but the more interesting question, from my perspective, is which one is the real Obama? Does he really believe in universal health care but is willing to make compromises for the sake of political expediency, or is he lukewarm on socialized medicine? Does he really believe that the USA needs to get out of Iraq because it never should have been there in the first place, or is he willing to compromise on that stance? What does he really think about the death penalty? Is he opposed on principle, in which case there's no compromise, or are his "principles" negotiable? Does he really expect to change the way things are done in Washington, or is that just something he says in order to get votes?

There's a discussion going on about this on Pharyngula [Progressives put pressure on Obama] but most readers are avoiding the real question. One commenter (Amplexus) said,

My fellow godless hedonists,

Obama is totally on our side. He's just hiding some of his feelings to get elected. We cannot take a stand on principle, we cannot afford to. Obama is blurring his position to win over independents that he sure as hell is going to shake off when he gets elected.

In other words, Obama is a liar and a hypocrite but that's okay because we all know that deep down he's a true believer.

Is that the common point of view among liberal Americans? Won't John McCain exploit this hypocrisy during the campaign?

---