Posted on 07/04/2008 7:52:06 AM PDT by vietvet67
(CNSNews.com) - As Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) apparently moves toward the political middle, he has offended one of the more influential liberal voices in the new media.
Markos Moulitsas, founder of the highly popular Daily Kos blog, denounced Obama for voting for the domestic surveillance legislation that provides limited immunity to telecommunication companies and for criticizing the left-wing activist group MoveOn.org.
"There is a line between 'moving to the center' and stabbing your allies in the back out of fear of being criticized. And, of late, he's been doing a lot of unnecessary stabbing, betraying his claims of being a new kind of politician," Moulitsas wrote on his site. "Not that I ever bought it, but Obama is now clearly not looking much different than every other Democratic politician who has ever turned his or her back on the base to prove centrist bona fides."
The critique from the Daily Kos founder is significant in that the blog has become the bible of the left in recent years, has sponsored events where Democratic presidential candidates speak, and played a potentially significant role in Obama's nomination as the blog was decidedly against New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and centrist Democratic policies.
After former President Bill Clinton's two terms, it appeared the centrist Democratic Leadership Council had gained greater influence in the party. That was until the grassroots effort led largely by Daily Kos and MoveOn.org led to the reemergence of the party's left wing.
So Moulitsas was also upset that Obama "took his not-so-veiled swipe at MoveOn in his 'patriotism' speech."
Speaking to a crowd in Independence, Mo., Monday, Obama said, "All too often our politics still seems trapped in these old, threadbare arguments - a fact most evident during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, where those who opposed administration policy were tagged by some as unpatriotic and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal."
Obama was referring to a full page ad in The New York Times purchased by MoveOn.org. The words under a picture of Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, said "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?" See Previous Story
Moulitsas also expressed frustration that Obama supported a compromise legislation on intercepting terrorist communications.
"First, he reversed course and capitulated on FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), not just turning back on the Constitution, but on the whole concept of 'leadership.' Personally, I like to see presidents 1.) lead, and 2.) uphold their promise to protect the Constitution," he wrote.
Moulitsas said he won't be contributing to Obama's campaign, because "I simply have no desire to reward bad behavior." However, he said he still supports Obama's candidacy, and said that the Illinois senator can still persuade him to contribute even though he doesn't believe the Obama campaign needs his $2,300.
Obama has followed the "standard model" for a presidential campaign, which is to appeal mainly to one's party base in the primary then move to the center in the general election, said John Samples, director of representative government at the CATO Institute.
"Obama wants to assure the public that he is not a radical so he has to identify himself with the center," Samples told Cybercast News Service . "He's not going to lose his base. He's going to convince them that 'whatever I say, I'm still with you.' And the evidence is he really is with them."
Further, he said, the public is almost desensitized to flip-flops, so long as it's done in moderation, Samples said.
"You've got to go where the votes are," he said. "There are cases, such as Mitt Romney, who seemed like a guy who would say anything to chase votes, and it hurt him. But a certain amount of flip-flops - that we've seen from Obama and McCain - are not fatal."
“...and stabbing your allies in the back”
Hey Kos, we prefer the under the bus thing...but whatever” =)
This is a heart-warming story. It brings a smile to my face.
LOL - wake up folks - Obama doesn’t follow his own will - he’s only a chess piece in the dirty game played on the people of this nation every four years.
If you think the guy has any concept of what his handlers are grooming to be - stay tuned - it will slip/slide and morph until you will no longer understand where the guy is.
Not surprising - he has no idea either.
The ever-changeable BHO was back peddling furiously yesterday in order to keep the support and funding from the Leftists in MoveOn happy. He’s was back to guaranteeing all troops out of Iraq in 16 months...but by Monday, he may have changed his mind if he’s appearing at a working class white rally.
What a joke of a candidate! Only the cult of Obamessiah would stick with him through all the lies he’s told.
They mean the “middle of the left” middle.
It’s a big cult. Maybe bigger enough to get him into the White House through the front door.
The kids over at DU are going nuts........
They have been suckered ...
their Golden Calf has feet of clay and they are running around in circles trying to make excuses ....
Don’t get yer panties in a bunch Markos. Obama couldn’t find the ‘center’ with a map and compass.
This is so much fun to watch! Note to BO, you have miles to travel before you even come close to the center and the Kos kids might want to buckle up because it has only just begun.
Yeah they have schedule Obama to attend a NASCAR race. The loony left will go nuts!
I’ll bet Kos really got hit with a severe case of “the vapors” this morning when FNC announced that B. Hussein Obama is going to start bringing his anti-war/anti-American message to us “rednecks” at NASCAR races! I can’t wait! Karl Marx meets NASCAR! All this while an African/American woman and her lawyer are suing NASCAR for a quarter of a billion dollars while accusing them of “discrimination” and “sexual harassment.” This “new direction” America is a REALLY a wacky place.
Sorry! GMTA!!!
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Let’s see. Which sponsors helmet should Obama put on?
The possibilities are endless..
Exactly.
He's only a Polished, Programmed Puppet. Follow the strings back to his puppeteers.
This election, maybe like none other, we are not so much voting for a candidate as for America and our personal freedoms.
We let the Marxists finally win their goal - we will loose our freedoms and they will not be restored in our lifetimes...
Wake up, Sheeple
True. George Soros still has plenty with which to buy the election.
It’s what the Russkis call a “maskirovka”. The Obamanation’s move to the center is a fake out, and the criticism from the hard left is part of the deception. They know he doesn’t mean a word of it.
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