Moving to the center is not a two-dimensional process. It has a third dimension -- the difference between strength and weakness. In the course of coming in from the cold of his extreme far-left positions, the president looks like a wimp, abandoning his long-held views in the face of electoral defeats, adverse court rulings, recalcitrant Democrats and strong, united Republican opposition. And wimps don't win. When Bill Clinton moved to the center, he arrived in triumph. After vanquishing the Republican Congress during the government shutdown of 1995-1996, he agreed to a balanced budget deal with Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott....